


Something Small and Precious

by Karee_the_wise



Series: Conquest of Spaces [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura deals with her prejudices, Allura is the older sister they all secretly wanted (and needed), Altean witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkwardness, Bonding Moments, Canon Typical Violence, Coran and lance are bros, Coran is an amazing babysitter, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Galra!Keith, Gen, How to fight the Galra and raise a child at the same time, Keith tries to understand people, Lance's older-sibling instincts comes in super handy with this one, Lots of amazing eye contact, Lots of platonic love and friendship, M/M, Major Hunk/Lance bromance, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Season 2, Shiro as Space Dad, Slow burn Klance, Swearing, Team as Family, They all just care a lot, Toddler mayhem, ace!pidge, blade of marmora, broganes, cutie alert, klance, lots of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-15 11:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11805429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karee_the_wise/pseuds/Karee_the_wise
Summary: Tensions were already building within the team; with the revelation of Keith's Galra heritage, Allura's entrenched prejudices, and Lance's supposed "rivalry" with Keith. But following their latest mission, they'll all have to face their problems head on.Because now they have a Galra toddler on their hands.So, Team Voltron needs to make a decision as they move forward with their Grand Plan to defeat Zarkon once and for all: will this latest challenge be what bonds them or what tears them apart?





	1. The Prisoner

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. :D This is my first VLD fic, so I hope I do it justice. 
> 
> The story takes place in season 2, following the Blade of Marmora episode. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> (The title of this series is inspired by a song by Woodkid, which I love. Feel free to check it out.)

"We’re all clear this end,” Shiro announced over the comms. He and Pidge were at the bridge of the ship, gathering key reconnaissance and taking out any Galra commanding officers. “We won’t need much longer.”

“I’m hacking into their interface now,” Pidge followed up.

Well, that was great news; at least this mission was going as planned for some of the team. Lance could not say the same for himself and Hunk.

“Lance, duck,” Hunk cried.

Lance shot down one last soldier before dropping into a crouch. The Galra that had launched itself at him from behind, crumpled to the floor. “Thanks, dude.”

Hunk grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Then he was back to business.

“Keith, my man, where are we at with those prisoners?” Lance asked over the comms as he stood back up. Another flood of Galra was filling the corridor. He gulped and shared a look with Hunk, who raised his bayard higher. “Keith? You gonna answer or what?”

Keith, as it turns out, had run into trouble of his own. Only, not half as dangerous as Lance and Hunk’s. “Would you hold on a sec,” he said, jaw clenched as he smashed his bayard against the locking contraption to the prisoner holding cells. Keith could practically hear Lance rolling his eyes. He brought his sword down one last time on the control panel, springing back as sparks flew. The door sprung open. “Okay, guys. I’m freeing the prisoners now.”

Cheers echoed through the comms.

“That’s great Keith, but like, could you maybe hurry up a little?” Hunk added. “Lance and I are getting really swamped here.”

“On it,” Keith replied, stepping purposefully into the cell. It was deep and dark, only lit up dimly from the corridor light now flooding in. “Hello?” Keith surveyed the space. “I’m a paladin of Voltron; you’re being rescued.”

Lance crashed to the floor as a Galra soldier collided with him. “Shit.” He reached out desperately for his bayard, which had been flung to one side. The Galra was strong, damn it, and quickly pinned Lance to the floor, preventing the blue paladin from reaching his gun.

“I’ve subdued the Blue one,” the Galra announced from above him.

“The hell you have, you purple fluff ball,” Lance wriggled and twisted, throwing the Galra off-balance. He planted a solid kick in the soldier’s side then leapt for his bayard. “Keith, what the quiznak is keeping you!”

“Oh, fuck me,” Keith gasped over the comms. A shriek then filled the team’s ears.

Hunk glanced over at Lance, an eyebrow raised. Lance just shrugged and continued firing.

“Keith, have you found the prisoners?” Shiro asked, breathing heavily. He and Pidge were making their way back to the green lion. “What kind of numbers are we talking?”

Keith hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Uh, just one.”

“One!?” Lance squeaked. “Why on Earth are there so many soldiers guarding one prisoner? What kind of logic is that?” He went on grumbling under his breath about the Galra needing to get their priorities straight. Then he swore. “Hunk on your six!”

“The Blade said prisoners, plural,” Shiro added. “Never mind, we’ll discuss this back at the castle. Everyone fall back; let’s get out of here. Lance, Hunk, how are you holding up?”

Hunk grunted. “We’re decent. If Keith would just get his butt over here for some back-up, it shouldn’t take us much longer to break through.”

“Yeah Keith,” Lance rolled his eyes. “Stupid mullet.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Keith smirked. The red paladin stalked through the corridor, turning the bend to reach the fight. He lingered a safe distance from the fight. “Lance, watch out!”

Lance fired. “Keith, what good are you being here if you’re not going to help?” He bit out.

“I- I can’t.”

Thankfully, Lance decided not to argue further. Instead, he just got on with his job of eliminating the threats in front of him. Hunk shot the last Galra down just as it entered the corridor, then there were none. Finally, some room to breathe.

Lance spun around to rip into Keith about being a quiznaking good-for-nothing lump of mullet. But something stopped him. He gaped. “Is that a child? A Galra child?”

Keith stood not to far away, with a small purple being in his arms. He looked scared out of his mind, holding the child like it was about to bite him, which of course was not entirely improbable. “This was the prisoner.”

Lance raised an eyebrow, moving closer. “The only one? That’s weird. Pass them here.” Lance stowed his bayard and took the baby Galra out of Keith’s grasp. “You clearly do not know how to carry a child. Come on, little guy, let’s get you outta here.” Lance hugged the small being into his side and started off past Hunk.

“What’s this about a child?” Pidge asked over the comms. “Guys? Guuuuys?”

Keith shook his head exasperatedly. “Later, Pidge.”

“Spoil sport,” Pidge grumbled. It was clear that the suspense was killing her.

Lance was already in the red lion by the time that Hunk and Keith caught up. He sat perched on the armrest of the pilot’s chair, with the toddler-sized Galra bouncing slightly on his lap. Lance didn’t even look up from the tiny alien as Keith sat down ready to fly, nor when Hunk crowded behind him to peer over Lance’s shoulder at the new addition. Keith didn’t really have time to ponder the subject further, he had to focus on flying them out of here so Allura could set the ship ablaze.

They all felt the heat of the explosion as the ship went up in flames once the red lion was a safe distance away. With the Galra child on his lap, Lance tried to suppress his shiver.

…

“So, um, what do we do now?” Pidge was sat crossed-legged in the middle of the control room, a good metre from Lance who sat with the little Galra on his lap. She gazed at the pair. “It’s so small.” Pidge shuffled forwards and hesitantly reached out to stroke the fur on their purple head.

The child’s big ears pricked up instantly and their head turned towards Pidge, staring at her face with wide yellow eyes. Next thing she knew, Pidge had her finger wrapped in the tight grip of a purple hand. A tiny purple hand. Who knew a toddler could be so strong.

Lance just laughed. “If you could see your face Pidge, oh my god.”

Pidge glared at him, but continued to let the Galra keep her finger, which was apparently the most interesting thing they’d ever since.

“Also, let’s not call the kid an ‘it’, okay?” Lance bounced the toddler again. “That’s just rude.”

“Well, it’s not like we know its gender, do we?” That was Keith, with his helpful inputs as always.

Lance sent him a flat look.

“Gender’s fluid anyway,” Pidge added, moving to stand now her finger had been freed.

Shiro rubbed the bridge of his nose. “We should contact the Blade of Marmora, they’ll want to know the outcome of the mission.”

“That’s a good idea, Shiro,” Allura nodded, still watching the child warily. Her eyes flickered between the baby and Keith. She frowned. “I’ll hail Kolivan now. Let’s see what he has to say.”

“Do you think Galra have the same sexual organs as humans?” Pidge asked.

All eyes turned to her.

“What?” Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Why is that relevant?”

Pidge shrugged, pushing her glasses up. “Then we’d know whether to call the kid ‘he’ or ‘she’, at least for the time being.” She paused, then looked pointedly at Keith.

Everyone turned to Keith.

The red paladin stood up straighter with the attention. “What?” Keith narrowed his eyes as his team mates dragged their eyes up and down his figure. “I have a human body, guys. No Galra organs here.”

Lance rolled his eyes then peeked down the baby Galra’s trousers. “Okay, they definitely don’t have a dick so I’m guessing they’re a she. Let’s just go with that for now.”

Allura squinted. She opened her mouth to say something, but obviously decided against it.

Everyone nodded. It was agreed; they had a baby girl on their hands. A Galra one at that. What a concept. Lance honestly doubted that Team Voltron, a complete mess of personalities, maturity levels, and coping methods, was going to be able handle caring for something as small and precious as a child. Besides, he’s pretty sure that he was the only one here with any kind of experience, having a million and one family members.

Soon enough, Kolivan appeared on the screen. “Greetings Princess Allura, Coran, and the Paladins of Voltron. I presume you’re contacting us about the mission? Were you successful in freeing the prisoners?”

Allura stepped forward, wearing a polite smile. “Hello Kolivan. I’m happy to tell you that yes, the mission was a success. However, there was only one prisoner aboard that ship.”

Kolivan furrowed his brow. “That does not correspond with the intel our spy gave us. But perhaps Zarkon’s plans changed at the last minute. Who is this prisoner then?”

Lance felt everyone’s eyes fall onto him. Sighing, he stood up and walked over to Allura. “Here she is.” Lance shifted his hold on the toddler, trying to position her so that she faced the screen, but to no avail. The child was far more intrigued by Lance’s round, smooth ears. “Probably a lot smaller than you expected…”

“That is a child,” Kolivan said. “You’re right, this is very unexpected. I had no knowledge of this, Allura. If I had, I certainly wouldn’t have assigned this mission to Voltron.”

A strange tension built in the control room.

Lance tightened his hold on the Galra. “Are you saying you wouldn’t have had her rescued if you’d known?” He argued. “Because the duty of Voltron is to protect the innocent, and I’m pretty sure a baby is as innocent as it gets.”

Allura dropped a hand onto his shoulder. “Lance, I’m sure that’s not what Kolivan meant at all.”

“Your Princess is correct,” Kolivan said. “The Blade of Marmora follows the same code as Voltron: to protect the innocent and those who cannot protect themselves. All I meant was, this task was a waste of Voltron’s power, when the Blade could’ve easily handled such a mission by itself.”

Luckily Lance nodded, appeased. He moved away from the screen, over to where the rest of the team were gathered. Hunk put a comforting arm around his friend’s shoulder, tickling the baby Galra softly and cooing.

“If that is all Princess, I’m afraid I must depart,” Kolivan continued. “My agents are under a lot of pressure at the moment, with so many missions unfolding at once.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to keep you from your Blade business,” Allura rushed to assure him.

“Allura-“ Shiro cut in.

The Princess turned to him and Shiro just jerked his head towards the child.

Ah yes. “Kolivan,” Allura spun back around. “Is there any chance the Blade would be able to take in the Galra infant? Its just, we all strongly believe the child would be best left in your care, considering Voltron’s front-line role in the fight against Zarkon. I’m sure you understand, we’re not exactly equipped to handle this sort of situation…” She smiled hopefully.

All the Paladins, and Coran, shuffled forward with wide eyes.

There was a long pause. “I must apologise Allura, but with our resources spread so thin, the Blade would not be able to attend to the needs of a child as young as that,” Kolivan answered. He rubbed his head, his face twisted with awkward regret. “Perhaps, once Zarkon is defeated, the Blade can take the child off your hands and find it a suitable Galra family.”

“That’s understandable Kolivan, and thank you for the offer- it will be considered,” Allura said. “Goodbye for now. We’ll contact you again about our Grand Plan.”

Kolivan gave a solemn nod and Allura ended the transmission.

Well then.

For a while no one spoke. Everyone was unsure of what to do now, considering they’re one and only option of dealing with their small and fluffy problem turned out to be a dead end. They still had to fight Zarkon, after all, and everything was starting to come to a head. This was the worst possible time for the team to be dealing with the tribulations of childcare.

“So, we’re keeping her then? For the time-being at least?” Hunk finally asked.

“Seems like,” Shiro sighed. “I’m not ready to be a parent.”

Keith patted Shiro on the back.

Pidge just laughed. “You’re already a Space Dad; this really isn’t going to change anything.”

Shiro paled. “Oh my god, you’re right. I’m a parent of five now. Fuck me.”

“Language,” Keith said, an eyebrow raised. That cheeky bugger.

Shiro glared at him.

All the while, Pidge just laughed even harder. Hunk had also cracked and joined in.

Allura wasn’t really sure about how to respond. She turned to Coran. “Is there anything in the Castle that will help us to look after this infant? Any supplies handy?”

“Yeah, we’re flying blind here,” Lance jumped in. “We are sooooo unprepared for this. So unprepared. And it’s not exactly like we can just pop to the space mall for a supply run. Unless we can?”

Coran twisted his moustache in thought. “Now that I think about it, there must be some of your old stuff in here Allura, from when you were teeny tiny. You know, I know quite a few funny stories from your childhood. There was one time, when King Alfor was away…”

“That’s fine, Coran!” Allura threw her hand over his mouth, her cheeks flushed slightly. “Let’s just save the stories for another time…”

Coran put his hands on his hips. “There are some absolutely golden ones. But you’re right, now’s not time.”

Allura faced the group. “Since we’ve still got a lot to organise with the Blade regarding the Grand Plan, Lance- you’re assigned to baby duty with Coran. You’re clearly the most comfortable with the infant. I want you and Coran to find all the baby equipment and get everything we’ll need set up. Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue with as much of the planning as we can by ourselves. Once that is all done, we’ll liaise with the Blade to get this Grand Plan finalised.” Allura smiled. “Does that suit everyone?”

It did.

…

“That should be about it,” Coran said, springing back up onto his feet. He dusted off his hands before placing them on his hips to admire his handiwork. “What do you think? I mean, it’s a very traditional style, so you might want Pidge or Hunk to spice it up a little…”

Lance gaped. “Are you serious? It’s awesome Coran! Do all Altean cribs look like this?” He winced slightly. “Did, I mean.” Lance brought the baby Galra over to the edge of it so she could peer over the star-covered glass walls.

The crib itself wasn’t overly large, but it was beautifully decorated, with plenty of entertainment built in to keep a toddler mentally stimulated. It was composed of a glass sphere, lined with plush colourful mats. Hanging over the open top was a glowing replica of Altea, that spun around slowly as a soft tune, some sort of Altean nursery rhyme Lance guessed, was played.

Lance gently placed the toddler on the mats inside. “How d’you like this, sweetie?” He cooed.

Coran moved closer to get a better look as the Galra was instantly enthralled by the small Altea. “She seems to approve.”

Lance smiled and gave Coran a side hug. “You bet she does. Thanks Coran- this is really amazing. I wish my baby brother could’ve had one of these.”

Coran was initially startled by the hug, but quickly warmed into it. “How much younger is he, your brother?”

“Milo is four now,” Lance said, grinning wildly. “But then there’s Alex who’s eight, and Carla and Maia who are seventeen and twenty. So, there’s a lot of us.”

“You’ve had more practice with the little ones that most of the Team, it seems,” Coran said.

“Yeah…” Lance nodded. He smirked cheekily. “But not more than you, apparently.”

Well,” Coran stepped back, puffing up his chest. “I certainly did my fair share of baby-sitting back in my youth. I’d say I developed quite a knack for it. Altean children are quite mischievous, I’ll tell you. Let’s hope this little Galra isn’t as troublesome.”

Lance laughed, patting Coran on the shoulder. “We’ll soon find out. We’re all danger magnets so I don’t doubt she will be too.”

The toddler squealed in delight as she flopped on her back.

“This is certainly going to make Castle life interesting, if it wasn’t already,” Coran noted, stroking his moustache.

Lance hummed in agreement. “Should we move this party to the control room?” He raised an eyebrow.

…

The control room was filled with busy paladins with busy brains. Allura, Shiro, and Keith was crowded around one end of the table with plans splayed out across the surface. Virtual graphs and diagrams hung in the air above. The Princess split her time between analysing data and inputting information into the Castle’s control panel. Pidge and Hunk were hunched over the opposite end of the table with their own scientific research and theories piled up around them.

All of this work to take down the universe’s biggest threat.

Lance skidded into the room, pushing the Altean crib ahead of him. The base had wheels on it for easy mobility, so Lance had taken full advantage of the cruising possibilities down the corridor. Except, there were no brakes and a baby was involved, so he had to dial the speed back considerably.

Coran strolled in not long after.

“How’s the work going guys? Perfected that master plan yet?” Lance asked, bringing the crib to a stop beside the table.

Pidge was up off her seat in seconds. “Holy shit Lance, what is that?”

“This, number five, is an Altean crib,” Coran told her, tapping the glass a couple of times.

“Not just any crib,” Allura said, joining them. “It’s my old crib.” She stared down at it with glassy eyes and a strained smile.

By this point, everyone was suitably distracted from their work. Shiro and Keith peered cautiously over Allura’s shoulder, whilst Hunk wriggled into the gap between Pidge and Lance. They were all staring down at the tiny purple toddler, still giggling away to herself.

Lance, with a dopey smile on his face, leant down to tickle the girl’s tummy.

“Did you find many supplies then Coran?” Allura asked.

“Indeed Princess. Everything we could possibly need, I reckon,” Coran replied. “Although, I’m sure we’ll need to replenish our stock eventually.”

Allura nodded. “Good. Well, hopefully the infant will be out of our hands by that time, so we shan't worry about running out of supplies just yet.”

Lance wanted to wince at Allura’s flippant attitude but tried to restrain himself for once. No one else really knew what to say in response.

“So,” Lance glanced up. “The Grand Plan?”

Shiro jumped at the chance to start explaining the aspects of the plan that they’d finalised so far, including the use of a teladuv to transport Zarkon’s ship through a wormhole. “Which, leads me on to our next mission,” Shiro said, dragging his eyes across the paladins. “We’re going to have to split up for this one.”

Hunk and Lance exchanged looks.

“Keith and Hunk, the olkari have requested scaltrite for the teladuv, so we need you to gather some from the nearest weblum,” Shiro ordered.

Keith nodded. “Got it.”

Hunk frowned. “What’s a weblum? That does not sound fun…”

Coran ruffled Hunk’s hair. “I’ll tell you in a tick. In fact, I made an education video on-”

“Coran,” Shiro cut in. “You’ll go and oversee the construction of the teladuv by the olkari, while Allura has agreed to head back to the balmera in search of a big enough power crystal.”

Coran saluted. “You can count on me, number one.”

Allura nodded with a small smile.

“And that leaves Pidge, Lance, and I to free another prisoner,” Shiro continued. “Which, according to the Blade’s intel, is a genius like no other and is vital to the teladuv’s completion.”

“Is this as solid as their last intel?” Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses. “Because last time we got a child. I think one child is enough.”

Shiro sent her a dry look. “They’re sure this time. The alien’s name is Slav.”

Lance crossed his arms. “Okay, so that all sounds good and everything. But what’s going to happened with the kid? Who’s going to keep an eye on her while we’re on this mission?”

That’s when the gravity of the situation began to sink in.

Lance turned to Shiro, then Allura. They both looked completely helpless. “I mean, I can stay on the castle if that helps…” Lance offered, knowing he would be the least vital for their mission anyway.

Coran seemed to pick up on the blue paladin’s discomfort because he quickly stepped forward. “She can come with me, of course. I’ll just be observing the olkari at work anyway, so I’m sure she won’t be a bother.”

Lance smiled up at him, gratefully.

Allura let out a long breath. “Thank you Coran, that’s very kind of you.”

“It’s no problem Princess. I’m happy to help,” Coran replied. “Besides, the little one can’t stay locked up in the castle forever.” He leant down to wiggle a finger at the child, cooing.

“Well, if that’s all settled, we better get to dinner and bed,” Shiro said, hands on hips.

Allura nodded. “We’ll all need as much rest and energy as we can get; the next few days will not be easy. I’ll contact Kolivan to give him an update on our plans, then I’ll forward you the details about the ship in which Slav is being held.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Shiro said, his lips twisting into a small smile. “We’ll see you in the kitchen.”

Coran rubbed his hands together. “You’re in for a treat tonight, team.”

“Coran and I have come together on this one,” Hunk added. “It’s a true culinary masterpiece, if I don’t say so myself. Very nutritious, very yummy.”

“Hunk, man,” Lance said, wrapping an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “If you made it, no doubt it’s amazing.”

“Aw thanks bro,” Hunk blushed. “You’re the best.”

Lance winked at him.

Pidge rolled her eyes but smirked none the less. “Let’s get moving then you lumps, some of us actually want to eat sometime today.” She barged past the older paladins and out of the room.

Lance gripped the edge of the crib and began to push it out of the control room, only to find Keith’s hands on the opposite side, helping him. Lance went to say something but decided against it. Maybe there was some hope for Keith’s interpersonal skills.

Hunk was busy explaining each individual ingredient in the meal as they made their way towards the kitchen. Apparently he’d discovered a way to transform the food goop into an actually pleasant meal by combining it with salad items and a sort of potato he’d picked up from some of the planets they’d visited recently. Also, adding spices helped a lot with the flavour of the food goop apparently. God bless spices.

Dinner was served up pretty quickly because everyone was longing for bed, even Pidge, who hardly ever slept was just about ready to collapse.

“Oh my god Hunk you’re a culinary genius,” Lance moaned around his spoon. “I don’t think I say that often enough. And you too Coran, of course. Oh my quiznak. It’s official, I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Shiro rolled his eyes.

Apparently the baby Galra, who Lance had balanced on his lap, agreed and she eagerly reached her hands out to fondle the blue paladin’s dinner.

Keith tried to hold back a snort as Lance struggled to shovel food into his mouth, stop the child from covering herself in food, whilst making sure nothing, including the child, fell onto the floor. Everything considered, Lance was managing quite well. Keith was almost impressed. Almost.

“The fluff ball still needs a name, Lance,” Pidge said, pointing her spoon at him.

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Why you calling me out on this?”

The baby on his lap gurgled excitedly as she clapped her goop-covered hands together.

“You like haven’t let her out of your sight since we found her,” Pidge explained. “I just figured you’d have a name in mind, is all.”

Lance gaped. He wanted to fight her on this, but damn it, Pidge knew him too well. “Uh, okay. Well, I was thinking we should call her Libby. You know, short for Liberty. It’s like freedom, ya know. Which of course is totally relevant since she was a prisoner and we freed her. And it also embodies the Voltron team slogan and all…” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, I’m just spit-balling here. I’m totally open to other suggestions. Besides, it’s got to be a group decision. This can’t all be on me…”

“Lance,” Shiro called out, cutting off his rambling.

“Hm?”

Shiro smiled, glancing around the table and back to the blue paladin. “I for one think Libby’s a great name.”

Hunk nodded rapidly in agreement. “It’s super cute.”

“You’re such as sap Lance, Jesus,” Pidge teased. “But seriously though, good choice. Couldn’t have done better myself. Although my talents lie more in dog names.”

Lance frowned. “I thought you didn’t have any pets.”

“No, I don’t,” Pidge replied. She shrugged. “I can dream though, can’t I?”

“Fair enough.”

“Lance,” Allura said, leaning forward on her elbows from her spot at the head of the table. “Libby is the perfect name for this child, and a beautiful one at that. If everyone is in agreement, then we shall refer to her as Libby from now on.”

The team gave a wave of nods.

“Fabulous,” the princess grinned.

Lance couldn’t help but do the same.

“Welcome to the family, Libby,” Pidge said, smiling cheekily as she tickled the little girl in the ribs.

Libby shrieked in delight and went to grab Pidge’s finger. Lance struggled to keep one arm around the wriggly toddler and soon ended up with the rest of his meal on his lap.

Surprisingly, Keith was the first to break the awkward silence with a laugh. Everyone else was quick to follow.

Lance just glared at Keith, then the rest of them. “Hilarious. That’s it, laugh it up guys. But I bet you won’t find it funny when she does this to you.”

His words failed to sober up his team mates, but this was probably because Libby had twisted around to place her filthy hands on Lance’s cheeks. Lance sighed, though a smile soon burst onto his face. He could never stay mad at this cutie.

All in all, it was probably the best meal they’d ever had in the castle.

…

After what felt like hours of listening to Libby crying, Lance decided he was done. He could not attempt to sleep like this any longer. He threw off his blindfold and clambered out from the warmth of his bed. “Hey there, sweetie-pie, no need for tears alright? I’m here,” he said.

Within moments, Lance had his slippers and dressing gown on and was trailing the halls with Libby, in a fluffy Altean onesie, cradled in his arms. She still hadn’t calmed down, despite all of Lance’s soothing words. He presumed it was the accumulation of traumatising experiences and the scary novelty of castle life. At least she hadn’t started scratching or anything; crying was something Lance could actually handle.

As it turns out it was only about one in the morning, Castle time, so Lance shouldn’t have been surprised to find the rec room occupied. The lights were dimmed but Lance could clearly see the figure shrouded in blankets, lying on the sofa-like piece of furniture. They appeared to be reading.

Lance was honestly shocked that Libby’s wailing hadn’t attracted their attention yet.

“Hey?” Lance approached carefully, bouncing Libby in his arms. He perched on the edge of the sofa and poked the lump under the blankets.

There was an instant reaction. The body underneath jumped spastically, launching the book from their hands into the air, only to find themselves tumbling backwards onto the floor. Some kind of alien headphones were left behind on the sofa.

Lance couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh my god are you okay? Wait- Keith?!”

Keith, now slumped on the ground, glared at Lance with him arms out wide. “What the hell, Lance? I was reading.”

“I could see that,” Lance said, an eyebrow raised. “You’d also cocooned yourself quite nicely; I had no idea it was you under all those blankets.”

Keith rolled his eyes and clambered onto his feet. “What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you get getting your beauty sleep or something?” He dusted himself off and moved to save his book from Libby’s stubborn reach.

Lance pulled the toddler back on his lap, stopping her from grabbing the book. Huh- when had she stopped crying. “Well, Libby woke me up screaming, so I thought I’d give her a tour around the castle until she’s calmed down,” Lance said, shrugging.

“It worked,” Keith pointed out, taking a seat next to the pair.

“Yeah thank God,” Lance sighed. “I’m not one of those people who can survive without sleep. Not like Pidge, and you apparently.”

They sat in silence for a while, content to just watch as Libby squirmed in Lance’s lap in an attempt to get to Keith.

Lance smirked as the other boy shuffled awkwardly. “Do you want to hold her? Because it sure looks like she wants to hang out with you.”

Keith blanched. “No, I’m good. She’s better off with you anyway; you know what you’re doing.”

“Okay. One, that’s bullshit,” Lance said as he lifted Libby out of his lap and into Keith’s. “And two, just because I act like I know what I’m doing, doesn’t mean I actually do. I’m just rolling with it, man.”

Libby immediately sank into the warmth of Keith’s body and he had to resist the urge to flee as two small hands reached out for his hair and ears. “Uh, Lance? What do I…”

“Just put your hands around her so she doesn’t fall,” Lance told him, grabbing one of Keith’s hands and wrapping it around Libby’s waist. “See, it’s not exactly rocket science.”

Keith sent him a flat look.

“If only I had a camera…” Lance mused, smirking.

Libby giggled as she found one of Keith’s ears and tugged his head down to meet hers.

“Jesus,” Keith bit out. “She’s strong. Is that normal?”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “How would I know that?” He sighed. “Human kids can be deceptively strong, but I’m guessing her strength is mostly thanks to the Galra genes. It’s probably where you get yours from too because let’s be real, no one fights that well without being part alien.”

Keith couldn’t tell if that was an insult or not, so he ignored the comment. His Galra blood was still a bit of a taboo subject on the team and apart from a short conversation with Shiro, he hadn’t really had the time to discuss it with anyone. To be honest, Keith had no idea what to think about his alien heritage.

He turned to Lance to find the other staring back at him with an odd look on his face. Keith frowned and raised his defences. “What? You got something to say?”

Lance bristled slightly. “No, man. I- well, I was just going to ask if you wanted to talk about the Galra thing at all. But you’re obviously handling it, so I should just let you get back to reading or whatever you were doing before I got in your way.”

Keith felt an ache in his chest as Lance swooped Libby back into his arms again and stood up.

“See you tomorrow Keith,” Lance muttered.

Libby gurgled and crawled up Lance’s body to look over his shoulder. It was all too soon before the two had disappeared through the door and out of sight.

Keith slumped back against the sofa. He shouldn’t have said that; he shouldn’t have attacked Lance like that. But what did the other boy expect, when he went around picking fights with Keith all the time, insulting him, and calling them “rivals”. Keith ran his hands through his hair then grabbed his book and headed back to his room. He didn’t feel like reading anymore. He needed to sleep off whatever just happened.

Maybe things would be better in the morning. 


	2. Separated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and lovely comments. I really appreciate the feedback. :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Breakfast was tense the next morning, not for any particular reason, but the weight of their upcoming missions was clearly pressing on the team. Keith and Lance just happened to be extra terse with each other. Although honestly, no one really picked up on the change since those two were at odds so often.

Libby was on Coran’s lap this time, being happily spoon-fed by the older Altean. It had been Coran’s idea actually, to take over the childcare duties straightaway, rather than wait until they parted ways for their missions. Lance, who hadn’t slept half as well as he usually did, had nodded vaguely and passed Libby over with no qualms. The blue paladin promptly slumped down the chair next to Coran and sluggishly spooned goop into his mouth.

“Oh my god Lance,” Hunk gaped as he returned to the kitchen, dragging in a sleep-ruffled Pidge.

“Whaa?” Lance looked up from his food lazily. “Oh, hey Hunk.”

“You’re awake. Early.” Hunk said, eyebrows raised. “That’s, um, new.”

“I think the little one kept him awake,” Coran fake-whispered.

Libby shrieked as she caught sight of Hunk and Pidge. She began to shake her legs, bumping up and down on Coran’s knee.

“Someone’s excited,” Pidge said, taking her own seat. She gave Libby a cheesy grin and a quick wave, before focusing on her food.

Lance groaned deeply. “Tell me about it. Coran’s right, she woke me up. A lot. I think I got like three hours sleep in total? She just kept crying. I tried walking around the castle with her, which worked for a while. But yeah. I am now a zombie.”

“You’re looking pretty good for a zombie, bro,” Hunk squeezed his shoulder, sitting next to Lance with his own breakfast.

“Thanks, bro,” Lance smiled weakly.

“Why is Lance a zombie?” Shiro asked, strolling in. He was already in his paladin armour. What the hell? “Oh right.” Shiro winced as he caught sight of Lance’s slumped form. “Yeah, I can see it now.”

Lance flipped him the bird.

Shiro just rolled his eyes, flicking Lance’s head as he passed.

“Ow,” Lance cried out. “That was uncalled for.”

“Good morning paladins, Coran, and Libby of course,” Allura greeted, floating into the kitchen with as much grace as ever. She was also donning her pink armour, her hair already pinned back into a bun. “I hope you’re all rested well and energised for today’s missions.”

Lance wanted the ground to eat him up.

“Er,” Pidge started, but quickly caught the fear flashing across Lance’s eyes. “Yep! Yep, we’re all buzzing and ready to go! Totally energised.” She sent Allura a brilliantly false smile.

Allura didn’t seem phased, however, and returned the smile. “Fabulous. That’s what I wanted to hear.”

Pidge stuck her tongue out at Lance. Lance blew her a raspberry. Luckily, the princess didn’t notice their antics as she quickly struck up a conversation with Shiro about their plan of attack for freeing Slav.

They thought they’d got away with it. Then Libby copied Lance and blew the biggest raspberry ever. She burst into giggles, reaching for Lance.

Allura and Shiro raised an eyebrow each, staring straight at Lance and Libby.

At that point the kitchen doors opened to reveal Keith. Maybe it was the dark rings under his eyes, but he was looking even more emo than usual, if that was at all possible. He let out a deep sigh, already regretting haven woken up this morning, and went straight for the food without a word.

That’s when the tension began to build. Now that they were all here, the weight of their task seemed to suddenly hit them all at once. Silence overcame them, leaving nothing but the sound of chewing and slurping to be heard. Even Libby had quietened down.

Keith, although sat at opposite ends of the table to Lance, kept staring over at him as he tried to gage how much of last night’s incident was going to effect today’s behaviour. And considering the way that Lance hadn’t even glanced up at him since he’d entered the room, Keith guessed it was going to be effect a hell of a lot. Lance wasn’t exactly known to forgive and forget easily. Keith sighed.

Shiro, next to him, nudged Keith gently. “You alright there?” He asked.

Keith shrugged. “Fine.”

“Keith, Hunk, did you receive that tutorial video I sent you about gathering scaltrite from a weblum?” Coran asked, handing Libby back over to Lance.

Keith frowned. He didn’t remember any video.

“Yeah I did, thanks Coran,” Hunk replied, reaching for seconds. “I’ve already uploaded it onto the drive in my lion. We’ll watch it on the way.”

Well, Keith was glad to know that someone knew what they were doing. He definitely didn’t. Not with this mission anyway. He had been planning to fit some training in this morning actually, but seeing as he’d slept so badly last night… It just hadn’t happened.

Hunk turned to Keith for some kind of confirmation, to which Keith nodded vaguely.

Shiro pushed his chair back. “Lance, Pidge, we better get a move on. This Galra ship should be at the required coordinates soon.”

This was it then. This was actually happening.

“You got it Shiro,” Pidge nodded.

Lance followed suit, but his eyes were clouded over with something in addition to the tiredness that Keith couldn’t quite put his finger on. “I’ll meet you in the hangar A.S.A.P.,” Lance said, standing up. He shifted Libby in his arms. “You coming Coran?”

“Right behind you, number three,” Coran said, stacking their bowls before opening the door for Lance. “I’ll be in the hangar to see you all off, I just have to make sure Libby’s things are all sorted first.”

And with that, the two (and a half?) had disappeared out of sight.

Keith tried not to feel disappointed with the lack of confrontation from Lance, or even acknowledgement. But he blamed that on Lance clearly being completely shattered.

“You ready to go too, Keith?” Hunk asked, peering at the other boy’s empty bowl.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m ready,” Keith replied unconvincingly.

Hunk may have raised an eyebrow but he nodded along all the same.

Pidge rubbed her eyes but copied as the rest team moved to stand. “I think my insomnia’s finally catching up on me. How inconvenient.”

Tell me about it, Keith thought.

…

Parting ways in the hangar was emotional, to say the least. There were tears, namely Hunk and Pidge; laughter, Coran and Lance; and inner conflict, Keith and Allura.

Hunk was quick to give Lance the tightest hug he’d ever received, ever. “Stay safe, bro,” he said. “I love you. You’re the best.” Tears dripped onto Lance’s armour.

Lance laughed gently. “I love you too, man,” he replied. “Keep calm out there, and don’t doing anything stupid. Who am I kidding, you never do. Just- don’t be dragged into doing anything stupid by Keith.”

Hunk pulled him closer.

Pidge stood with her hands on her hips as Hunk and Lance broke apart. “Finally, you’re done. Hunk, I want a hug too. Lift me off the ground big guy.”

And he did. Pidge squealed as her feet hung in the air and she was swift to lose her cool, tearing up almost as much as Hunk.

“You’ve got this, Keith,” Shiro told him, giving the younger boy a firm hug. “Remember to keep your focus, but trust your instincts. We’ll see each other soon.”

Keith nodded against Shiro’s shoulder. “Keep safe, Shiro. You’re not allowed to leave me, okay?”

Shiro chuckled, but emotion caused his throat to close up. “I won’t, I promise.”

When they pulled back, Keith caught Allura’s eye from behind Shiro. The princess held his gaze for a tick, only to look away without a word. Keith swallowed. An ache resurfaced in his chest.

“Best of luck Princess,” Coran said, squeezing her shoulder affectionately as he balanced Libby in one arm. “There’s no doubt the Balmerans will be glad to see you again.”

Allura smiled. “I am looking forward to returning. I hope all goes well with the olkari. Keep me updated about the teladuv’s progress, would you?”

“Of course,” Coran nodded. “I’ll have this one with me so I shan't get bored.” He tickled Libby’s tummy.

Allura let out a light laugh and cautiously ruffled the fur on the toddler’s head.

Lance slide in beside Coran and cupped Libby’s cheeks with his hands. He placed a kiss on her forehead. “You behave for Uncle Coran, now sweetie. Lancey’s off to save the day, but he’ll tell you all about it when he gets back- yes he will.” He stroked her cheek, then backs away. Lance waved to Coran and Allura. “Catch you later guys!”

He passed Keith on his way over to Blue. The events of last night flashed in his mind. Lance didn’t want to ignore him, but also had nothing to say. So he gave Keith what he hoped was a nod of solidarity, then went on his way.

…

The Yellow lion was supposedly closing in on the position of the nearest weblum, according to the Altean Weblum Tracker that Coran had given them. The journey hadn’t been a long one and there was a peaceful silence in the cockpit as both Hunk and Keith stared out of the lion’s windshield.

Hunk sighed deeply, leaning his head on his hand as his elbow rested on the pilot’s seat. A few minutes later, he sighed again. It was clear that the yellow paladin was becoming restless. He sighed one more time before Keith snapped.

“Hunk, would you stop it with the sighing already,” Keith bit out. He was leant against the wall with his arms crossed. “I know this is dull, but seriously.”

Hunk swivelled round to face Keith, rolling his eyes at the other’s sharp glare. “I’m just- why do I always get given the worst missions? Go to a Galra infested planet to find your lion. Go to a Galra occupied planet to fetch a crystal. Go into the belly of a weird alien whale to gather a rare mineral with our only Galra team mate. It’s all Galra, Galra, Galra for me. Why does Allura get to go back to the balmera?! Maybe I want to visit Shay, no one asked me that…”

“Is this about me being Galra?” Keith raised an eyebrow. “You really want to bring that up now?”

“Uh, no,” Hunk backtracked. “That’s not really a factor. I mean, it is, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m just annoyed we have to fish around in a creature’s stomach is all. It’s cool you’re Galra now, I guess. You’re the nicest Galra I’ve ever met anyway. Apart from Libby, but she’s just a baby. All baby are nice- that’s like the law.”

Keith frowned. He didn’t really know what to say to that to be honest. “I’m not Galra now,” he corrected. “I’m the same as I’ve always been.”

“Sure, sure,” Hunk nodded. “I know that. Only now we know you’re Galra, so now you’re Galra Keith, rather than Regular Keith which you were before.” He giggled. “It’s just for reference, really.”

“Right.” Keith ran his eyes over Hunk, his brows still pinched. “So you don’t like hate me now or anything?”

Hunk paused. “No, of course not,” he squinted. “Is that what you think? That we all hate you now?”

Keith went to open his mouth.

“Because Shiro definitely doesn’t. He actually defended you the other day when Lance was calling you a fluff-ball. Shiro said and I quote “Keith’s the same as he always was so I suggest you treat him like it”. But Lance has always teased you, so I guess that’s still the same,” Hunk ranted.

Warmth spread through Keith. It was good to know he could still count on Shiro to be there for him. He just ignored Lance’s comment- the boy can call Keith whatever he wants, they’re still rivals after all. That’s obviously not going to change anytime soon.

Hunk winced. “Allura might hate you a bit though.”

And there it was. The stone cold truth.

Keith ran his hands through his hair. “I’d figured.”

“Yeah, you should just let things cool down for a while but she’ll get over it eventually,” Hunk said with an encouraging smile. “Things will get better, dude. But the Galra did destroy her family, home planet, and entire race…”

“I know,” Keith nodded. “I’m not going to let her push me aside though; I’m still part of this team so Allura can’t just cut me out because of my DNA.”

Hunk slapped him on thigh, the turned back to face the lion’s controls. “Course you are, Galra Keith.”

Keith pursed his lips. This Galra Keith thing was going to last a while, he could feel it.

A small light flashed on Yellow’s dashboard. “Okay, we’re approaching the weblum now,” Hunk announced. “Probably should start watching that video now…”

“Aw damn it,” Keith pushed himself off of the wall and leant over Hunk’s shoulder to see the screen.

…

“I’ve got Slav,” both Shiro and Lance announced at once. They frowned. “What?”

Pidge rolled her eyes from the control centre. “We don’t have time for this, guys. You’ll just have to bring them both back.”

“Okay then Pidge, can you send me the route out of here? We’re ready to to go at this end,” Shiro said. He eyed the many-limbed alien skeptically as he re-organised his blanket.

“Yeah me too Pidge,” Lance added.

Pidge nodded as her fingers flew over the keypad on the Galra console. “On it,” she said, pausing to send the directions to the others.

The doors to the control centre flew open.

“Shit,” Pidge swore, swiping away her search for Matt on the Galra data logs and ducked under the desk.

“Pidge,” Shiro’s voice rang out over her comm. “Pidge are you there? I haven’t received that route.”

Now’s not a good time Shiro damn it, Pidge screamed internally.

Lance turned back to face the broad purple alien. “Look like it’s just you and me now Slav. D’you happen to know the way back to the hangar?”

“Yup.”

Lance smirked. “Of course you do, what am I thinking? You’re a genius! Let’s go.” He led the way down the corridor, glancing over at Slav occasionally to make sure he was keeping up. For a scientific mastermind, Slav was certainly an alien of very few words. Lance shrugged. Each to their own. “So, have you heard of Votron? Cause that’s me, the blue paladin.”

“Yup.”

“Then you must’ve heard about the Blue lion, right? The best lion.”

“Yup.”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Wow. You really do know everything. No wonder the Galra want you so badly.”

“Yup.”

Shiro, on the other hand, was having more difficulties with his prisoner. He had never felt so annoyed at anything or anyone in his entire life. Slav and his goddamn quantum realities just got under his skin. It was a miracle that Shiro hadn’t strangled him yet.

They were just leaving his cell when Slav yelped and scrambled back in again.

Shiro clenched his jaw. “Why don’t you just bring the blanket with you?”

“What? No! The blanket is fine, don’t touch the blanket!” Slav cried.

“Then what is it?” Shiro asked. He patience was really running thin now.

Slav pointed to the puddle.

That’s it, Shiro was done. He’s too old for this infinite possibilities shit. He’s retiring.

Lance wasn’t really sure how far they’d gone by this point. He had no map and Slav didn’t seem to be leading them very purposefully. Did he not want to escape this Galra hell hole?

Slav paused at a junction of corridors, before turning down the left one.

“You’re gonna love the castle, Slav,” Lance started. “There’s a tonne of science equipment and engineering stuff, I’m sure Pidge and Hunk will show you where they keep all of their best gadgets. Oh wow, you’ll get to meet the Princess and Coran. They’re Alteans. Have you met any Alteans before? Probably not. Anyways, they’re awesome. Coran will tell you the best stories ever- you seem like you’re a fan of stories. And then there’s Shiro, he’s our cool leader. Shiro’s always calm and collected in the heat of battle. Pidge is our tech genius. Hunk is our engineer and just an all around great guy; he’s my best friend.” Lance sighed. “Then there’s Keith. He’s always doing recklessly cool things that would get anyone else killed, but no not Keith, cause he’s just too fabulous. He’s amazing with a sword- you should seem him in the training room. Keith’s something else, that’s for sure…”

“Yup.”

Lance smiled. “So that’s Team Voltron. Then there’s Libby who’s our latest recruit. She’s a baby Galra we saved from a prison not too long ago. She’s a sweetheart. I’m kind of her caretaker now. I’m also the team’s sharpshooter, at least, I thought I was… But then Pidge made this comment, and now I’m realising that maybe I don't actually have a thing? Huh. Maybe I’m actually the fifth wheel of Voltron. Seventh, if you count Allura and Coran. That’s a terrible wheel to be…”

“Yup.”

Lance frowned. A cold ache pulsed in Lance’s chest. He felt the hot prick of tears in his eyes. “You don’t have to agree with me so quickly, jeez.” He sniffed. “I guess I should be glad we have Libby then, cause at least now I’m the babysitter. But that’s only because no one else wants the job- no one else has time to care for her with all their real responsibilities.”

Loud, metal thumps filled the hallway.

“Shit,” Lance swore, jumping behind a pillar.

Slav just stood aimlessly in the middle of the corridor, completely unconcerned about the oncoming danger.

“What are you doing?” Lance whispered, eyes wide.

“Finally, I’ve found you!” A low voice rumbled.

Screw that, Lance thought as he flung himself out in front of Slav. He raised his bayard. “You leave my friend alone!”

The Galra commander snarled, clenching his massive fists. “So you’re the thief. Put the ship on lockdown.”

Sirens wailed and red lights flared up across the ceiling. Well, fuck.

Slav sprinted off and Lance, trying not to panic, followed at top speed. He shot at the Galra a few times before having to focus on the immobilising-foam.

“Pidge, I need you to shut off this foam for me,” he cried out over the comms.

There was the sound of scuffling on the other end. “I’m back,” Pidge announced, a little breathless. “Okay Lance, I’m on it- give me a tick. Aha, take that you Galra bastard.”

The foam dispensers turned to fire at the commander, covering him from head to toe with thick white foam. He was stuck.

Lance barked out a laugh. “Thanks Pidge!”

“My pleasure mate,” she replied with a smirk. Pidge quickly downloaded the video of Matt she’d uncovered.

“Is there any way we can shut off the gravity?” Shiro asked, his voice clipped. “Apparently that’s our best bet of getting out of here.”

Pidge grinned. “Shiro that’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that? That way the sentries can’t manoeuvre but we still can. It’s genius!”

The next thing they knew, everyone was in the air.

Lance ran into Shiro and his prisoner as their corridors merged into one.The hangar was in sight now and he could feel Blue’s presence surge in his mind. Lance was riding on Slav’s back, which seemed to be the easiest way of travelling in the anti-gravity.

“Oh, you’ve got Laika,” the alien wrapped around Shiro said. “The commander’s not going to be happy about thaaaat; he’s awfully fond of his pet yupper.”

Lance frowned. “What?” He turned to Laika. “You’re an animal?!”

“Yup.”

“Ah, yes…” The other alien’s eyes widened. “I can see where the confusion was for you.”

Well, now Lance felt like a complete idiot.

On their approach, the hangar doors slid open to reveal a line of sentries guarding the Blue lion. They fired at the paladins.

“Take cover,” Shiro shouted as he leapt to one side, behind a large storage crate.

Laika shot forwards, causing Lance to slip from her back onto the floor, as she began tearing apart the sentries. Lance quickly recovered and shot at the guards from behind a crate. “Where’s Pidge?”

Shiro swiftly rejoined the fight. Having deposited Slav, he ran straight for a lone sentry with his replacement arm glowing. Shiro sliced the sentry’s head off in one swipe, then moved onto his next opponent. “Pidge? We’re in the hangar but we’ve got company.”

Laika was making good work of the sentries closest to Blue’s particle barrier, but a fair few had escaped her and were closing in on Lance’s position. Lance kept trying to gets shots off but he was outnumbered. He was pinned behind the crate because the sentries were almost constantly firing at any body part that peeked out. “Guys, can someone get these bastards off my ass?”

Shiro grunted as he landed another blow. “One. Moment.”

“See what I was saying about that mechanic arm?” Slav said, popping up from behind a box. “Now, imagine if you had two!”

“I’ve got you, Lance,” Pidge shouted, swinging down from the ceiling somewhere with her bayard. She crashed straight into the group of sentries approaching Lance and promptly electrocuted the nearest two.

Lance saw his chance and jumped back up, shooting down the last of the group while they were distracted. He sent Pidge a smile as the last one fell. “Thanks for that.”

Pidge dusted herself off. “No problem. Sorry I was late to the party.”

Shiro had just finished off his final opponent too and Slav was busy closing the hangar door behind them.

“Who’s that?” Pidge asked, pointing at Laika as she chomped on broken sentries.

Lance winced. “That’s, um, Laika.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Right… I expect the rest of that story later, you know.”

Lance rolled his eyes but accepted his fate.

“Let’s just get into Blue,” Shiro told them as he came over with Slav on his heels. “We can discuss this later.”

Pidge saluted.

Everyone, minus Laika who was too preoccupied, ran towards Blue’s particle barrier which dropped for them instantly.

“Hey Blue,” Lance greeted with a soft smile. “How’re you doing, girl?”

The Blue lion’s mouth opened wide for them.

“Slav! How dare you try to escape me!”

Slav squeaked and climbed Shiro.

The Galra commander had been freed from the foam, apparently, and was currently storming through a side door into the hangar. His broad shoulders and thick muscles suddenly seemed a whole lot more terrifying as he bared his sharp fangs at them.

“Fuck this,” Pidge said. “We were so close as well.”

Slav slipped away somewhere but Shiro didn’t have time to worry about that now. He had one big-ass Galra to deal with.

“Okay team, we can take him,” Shiro told them as he stepped forward and readied himself.

Pidge lifted her bayard.

Lance, with his gun raised, circled to the right. He was a range fighter after all; Shiro and Pidge could handle the close-quarter combat.

The Galra roared as the pink liquid from the tubes in his neck disappeared into his blood. Then he was growing, and suddenly the commander was three times his original size. He raised his large mechanic fists before slamming them down on the hangar floor. The paladins just about managed to stabilise themselves in time, so as not to fall over from the force of it.

“Now,” Shiro yelled. He and Pidge ran straight for the commander. Shiro’s hand was glowing and Pidge’s bayard crackled with electricity.

Lance followed their cue, starting to fire at their opponent’s face. He’d learnt that no matter the alien, taking out the eyes was always a solid bet.

The Galra raged and swung his four arms around madly. He knocked Lance, who went flying. Pidge was next, but she lassoed her bayard around the commander’s shoulder and used that to pull herself onto him rather than be thrown across the room. The electric shock from her bayard to his neck unfortunately did little to slow the Galra’s attack on Shiro.

“Ow,” Lance groaned, pulling himself up off the floor. He was going to be so bruised later. As he moved to stand, Lance caught sight of Slav fiddling around with a console by the hangar door. “Slav, what are you doing?”

“Opening the hangar door,” Slav replied. His many fingers flying across the controls. “Get ready to be sucked into space.”

Shit, Lance thought. Okay then. He raised his gun and raced back towards the action. Slav obviously knew what he was doing.

A massive hand wrapped around Lance and the next thing he knew his feet were off the floor.

Lance screamed. Jesus Christ, this was not good.

The Galra’s gigantic purple fingers had Lance’s arms pinned to his sides and squeezed him. Lance could almost feel his ribs cracking. He’s dropped his bayard, leaving him completely helpless.

“Lance, no,” Pidge cried out, attacking the commander’s head with great ferocity. Who knew there could be so much fire within such as small body. Well, actually, the whole team was well aware of Pidge’s feisty nature. But the Galra had no idea what he had just unleashed.

Meanwhile, Shiro was sticking to his classic ‘go for the legs’ tactic. Lance couldn’t tell how well that was working out for their leader this time around, but he guessed probably not well considering the size of said legs.

“Damn it,” Pidge bit out as she was thrown off the commander’s back another time. Only this time she failed to lasso herself back up. “Guys we need a new plan.”

Tell me about it, Lance shouted back in his mind. He couldn’t speak since all the air had gone from his lungs with the Galra’s crushing grip. All he could do now was focus on trying to breathe enough to not pass out.

Then everything began to slide.

Slav had come through. The hangar door creaked open, sending the Blue lion floating out into space.

Lance was free. The commander obviously decided that Laika was more important and reached out to grab her instead, whilst keeping himself attached to the hangar floor. Lance saw Shiro and Pidge hovering ahead of him, nearing the Blue lion’s open mouth. Now all they needed was Slav and they were good to go.

Slav was flying towards them. Painfully slowly. Only to be caught by one of the commander’s mechanical hands.

The hangar door was closing upon them at lightning speed.

“We need to do something,” Pidge said.

“I’ve got this,” Lance cut in. He levelled his weapon. “Guys, I’ve got this. Trust me.” He lined up the shot, aiming for the Galra’s faux elbow joint. Lance let out a long breath and fired.

He did it.

The Galra’s mouth open with silent growls as Slav slipped from his grasp and out of the hangar into open space.

“Oh my god Lance,” Pidge grinned. “You did it!”

“Yes Lance!” Shiro slapped his back. “That’s why we bring our sharpshooter.”

Lance couldn’t contain his smile. Happiness and pride bubbled up in his chest. He winked. And for a moment, all his doubts were gone.

…

Keith could feel Hunk’s eyes on him again as they made their way to their rendezvous point at Olkarion. “Hunk, what are you doing?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Hunk whipped his head forward. “Nothing. Nothing.”

“Were you trying to see if my skin is turning purple or something?”

“No! No,” Hunk cried out. He then smile sheepishly. “I admit I am a little curious about your biology… but it’s obvious that you’re outward physical appearance is almost completely human. Internally though, that’s a different matter. I just think we should keep an eye out.”

Keith gaped. He cleared his throat. “What do you mean? I’ve told you, I’m the same as I’ve always been. I don’t feel any different.”

Hunk shrugged. “I’m just saying dude, with the knowledge of your mixed DNA, we should probably learn more about Galra biology. Just to make sure there’re no differences or changes to catch us by surprise.”

It was clear that Keith had not even considered this possibility. His own body turning against him.

“I mean, biological sciences was never really my focus,” Hunk continued. “That’s more Pidge’s area. I’m more of a mechanics man, so thats mostly physics and some chemistry.”

Keith stared down at his gloved hands, turning them over. He hadn’t felt different after the revelation of his heritage but Hunk’s words were making him feel uneasy in his own skin. Maybe he should ask Pidge to run some tests and do some research… Not now of course, they’ve got bigger problems, but later, once they’ve defeated Zarkon.

“Ah man,” Hunk groaned. “I’ve made it awkward now, haven't I? I should’ve just kept my mouth shut, damn it. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable Keith- I was honestly just trying to help.”

Keith nodded vaguely. “No, Hunk. It’s okay, you did nothing wrong. I just, hadn’t thought about any of that…”

“Paladins, come in!” Allura popped up on the screen. She looked dishevelled, her eyes wide with panic. “Oh thank the Ancients, Hunk! I need you to come to the Balmera immediately.”

“What, why? What’s happening to the Balmera?” Hunk shouted.

Allura bit her lip. “The beast you defeated here last time, it’s back! I cannot take it down with the castle’s defences alone- this needs Voltron.”

Hunk glanced to Keith, then back. He nodded. “Okay Allura, we’re on our way.”

“Thank you,” Allura replied. “I’ll contact the others.”

“This is not good,” Keith said as Hunk accelerated, altering their course to head towards the Balmera. “Let’s hope the others are finished with their mission.”

“I hope Shay’s alright,” Hunk admitted.

It appeared that their day’s work was not yet over.

…

“Oh hell,” Lance said as the Blue lion arrived at the scene.

The castle and the robot-beast were clashing together in the sky above the Balmera, lasers firing in all directions.

“It looks more powerful than last time,” Pidge pointed out.

Slav just squealed and hid by Shiro.

They were all on their feet now and gazing out of the windshield at the battle unfolding before them.

“Lance, contact Allura,” Shiro ordered.

Lance opened a line to the castle. Allura’s face appeared on the screen.

“Princess, we’re here to assist you,” Shiro announced.

Allura smiled faintly. “Paladins, it’s good to see you safe,” she said. “You need to eliminate that beast; the castle can’t take many more hits from that laser.”

“You got it, Allura,” Lance said. “You can count on us.”

“Us too,” Hunk added as he pulled the Yellow lion up alongside Blue.

“Hunk!” Lance grinned. “You’re back. How’re you doing, buddy?”

“Not too bad. Let me tell you though, weblum are some gross-”

“Guys,” Shiro cut in. “Save the chit-chat for later. We’ve got a robot-beast on our hands. Hunk, I want you to cover us while we head back to the castle for Black and Green. We’re going to need Voltron for this. Then you can take Keith back for Red while we cover you.”

“You’re leaving me out here by myself?!” Hunk drummed his fingers along Yellow’s controls nervously.

“Hunk, you’ve got Keith with you,” Pidge told him.

“Yeah, but he’s in here with me!”

“Okay, we’re off to the castle,” Lance announced. God, he was glad Libby and Coran weren’t around for this.

Blue zipped away, leaving Hunk and Keith alone to face the giant laser-firing robot. Brilliant.

“Right, distract,” Hunk muttered to himself. “Got it.”

Yellow approached the beast cautiously, but Hunk was quick to pull out his shoulder canon. Then things got heated.

“Hunk, move!” Keith shouted as the robot’s laser began to glow in their direction.

“Ahhhhh,” Hunk cried out, swinging Yellow into a sharp dive. “Oh my God. Oh. My God.”

“Hunk, breathe. You can do this.” Keith gripped his shoulder. “Fire again.”

Hunk did. His shots kept ricocheting off of the crystals that acted as shields for the robot-beast. Nothing he did was causing any damage.

“We can’t beat it! It’s protected from all angles,” Hunk said.

“We can; we just need Voltron,” Keith assured him. “Keep moving and distracting until the others come back.”

Hunk hesitated, then nodded. He jerked his lion back into action and they were off.

“Wassup motherfuckers!”

“Lance!” Hunk laughed. “Thank God, you’re back.”

“Not just me,” Lance said.

Ahead of them, Hunk and Keith caught sight of the black and green lions swooping in after Blue. They’d done it.

“Okay Hunk, we’ve got it from here,” Shiro said, smiling. “Go and fetch Red, Keith.”

Hunk nodded and headed towards the castle, leaving the fighting to their teammates for now.

They were almost there when the Yellow lion got hit.

“No!” Pidge screamed.

A bright light crackled around the yellow lion and the others were momentarily stunned by the attack.

“Hunk, buddy, you hanging in there?” Lance’s voice rang out over the comms. “Keith? You guys still there?”

Keith lurched forward in the cockpit. “Hunk, what’s happening?”

“We’ve lost power,” Hunk replied, his hands flying over Yellow’s controls. “Come on, boy. This can’t be the end- you’ve gotta keep fighting!”

“Yellow’s down,” Keith told the others. “We’ve lost control; all power’s been cut out.”

“Shit,” Shiro swore.

From their positions, the rest of the paladins watched as the yellow lion began plummet towards the Balmera’s surface. They were being pulled in by gravity.

“We have to grab them,” Pidge cried out. “Shiro?” She was already angling her lion to chase after Hunk and Keith, latching onto one of the yellow lion’s legs.

“Lance, cover us,” Shiro said, following Pidge’s lead.

And then there was one.

The Blue lion dipped and swerved to dodge the robot’s laser fire, whilst sending off a few shots of its own. Lance struck the beast a couple of times with the freeze ray, but was disappointed with how ineffective it was. That was his best move!

Behind their opponent, Lance caught sight of Pidge and Shiro lifting Hunk and Keith out of imminent danger. Well that’s a plus.

“Are you going to be okay you two?” Shiro asked once the green and black lions had released the yellow lion. He hovered nearby, but it was clear that Shiro’s attention was divided; Lance was still distracting the robot-beast by himself and taking heavy fire.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” Keith replied. “You better get over there to back up Lance.”

“We will?” Hunk squeaked. “We still have no power, Keith.”

Keith glared at him. “Just go, Shiro. We’ll manage.”

Shiro and Pidge hesitated but accepted the decision and were quick to fly of, heading back into the action.

Hunk swivelled in his chair. “Keith-”

Keith was by the back exit of the lion. “I’m going to jetpack back to the castle. I need to get to Red and help out; I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Hunk said, frowning. “What if you get hit?”

Keith paused. The thought had crossed his mind. “That’s a risk I’ll just have to take.”

The next thing Hunk knew, the red paladin had jumped from his lion and was floating in open space. Hunk shook his head. “Goddamn it Keith.” He then refocused his attention on getting Yellow back up and running.

The robot-beast managed to slip a laser past the paladins and directly hit the castle. The particle barrier flashed red, shuddered, then disappeared.

“Our shields are down,” Allura cried through the comms. “If we get fired at now, the castle would surely be destroyed!”

“We need Voltron,” Shiro said. “Keith, what’s the situation over there?”

Blue, Black, and Green were circling the beast. They alternated between firing, defending, and outmanoeuvring oncoming attacks. Unfortunately, with only three of them they were not enough to land any fatal blows. Those damn crystals were shielding the majority of their shots.

“I’m nearly at the castle,” Keith replied. His jetpack wasn’t exactly the fastest mode of transport.

“I’m back online!” Hunk yelled. “Yes, Yellow! Good boy! Okay guys, Hunk is back in the game.”

Whoops and cheers rang out over the comms.

“Hell yes Hunk! Get that beautiful ass over here,” Lance said.

Without the Yellow lion to partially shield Keith from the robot-beast’s view, he felt very vulnerable with only darkness around him. But he was so close now, he was going to make it.

“Keith, watch out!”

Something barrelled into him from behind. Then the heat of a laser blast raged around him. Through his visor Keith could see the blazing green heat. Why wasn’t he dead? A hit like that should’ve killed him.

“Lance!” Hunk’s voice was the loudest. It cracked slightly. But he could also hear Shiro and Pidge shouting. They were calling out Lance’s name- why? What had happened to Lance?

Silence clogged the air.

“Shiro?” Pidge asked, sounding small.

It took a moment for Shiro to reply. “Keith, are you alright?”

Keith didn’t know. He thought he was? He was still frozen by the shock of what had just happened.

“Keith come in.” It was an order this time.

“I’m okay,” he croaked.

“Ok, new plan,” Shiro cut in. “Keith, check on Lance. His comms are down after that hit. Make sure he’s hanging in there. Then get to Red A.S.A.P.”

Keith swung his body around to find the Blue lion towering over him looking completely wrecked. Shit. Shiro was still talking over the comms, probably explains to Pidge and Hunk the finer details of their new approach, but Keith could no longer focus on anything being said. He had to get into the Blue lion.

His jetpack fired up as Keith flew towards Blue’s mouth. Her lights were off. Keith didn’t hesitate in placing his palm on Blue’s muzzle. “Let me in, please,” he said. “Lance needs me. You have to let me in.” Keith hoped that his voice didn’t crack from his nerves. God Lance, why. The other boy had clearly jumped in front of that laser for him. Fucking hell, Keith shook his head. He was certain that Lance hated him, but clearly that wasn’t the case. You don’t launch yourself into danger for someone you despise.

It felt like forever before Blue’s jaw creaked open for him. Thank everything, Keith screamed internally. “Thanks, Blue,” he said, patting her muzzle before shooting inside.

Keith wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. But he could honestly say that this was far worse.

Blue’s cockpit was dark, lit up by the warning lights only which flooded the cabin with ominous red light. Lance was flopped over the pilot’s seat, his head hanging limping to one side.

“Nonononono,” Keith ran over to Lance and placed his hands on either side of his head. He didn’t want to aggravate any possible injuries, so tried not to move the other boy. Keith could see Lance’s face through his visor- his eyes were closed and blood dribbled down his forehead. He looked pale. “Fucking shit. Shit.”

“Keith?” It was Hunk. “How’s he doing? His comms are still down.”

Keith struggled to get enough air into his lungs to reply. “It’s not good, guys,” he said. Keith cleared his throat. He’d have to remove Lance’s helmet. “I’m not going to be getting to Red anytime soon.”

“No, Keith. We need Red,” Shiro told him. “We need as many lions in this fight as possible. Try and get Lance back to the castle; Allura can take care of him there. Then get to Red.”

It took a moment before Keith answered. He was busying freeing Lance of his helmet. He hovered his hand in front of Lance’s nose for a few seconds; he was still breathing. Thank God for that. Keith let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. “Sure, Shiro. I’m on it,” Keith finally said.

Unfortunately this meant he had to put Lance’s helmet back on again. He didn’t really want to risk disturbing the other boy’s injuries any further, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. Blue was out of commission, so he’d have to jetpack them both over to the castle. And for that Lance would need the oxygen from his helmet.

“Ok, I’ll update the Princess,” Shiro said. “And Keith? Good luck.”

Right, let’s do this, Keith thought. He hauled Lance’s unconscious body into his arms. Oh Lance would so kill him if he knew he was being carried bridal style. Keith tightened his grip on Lance as they exited Blue and flew towards the castle. He kept glancing over his shoulder at the battle, very aware that this is where it has all gone wrong last time.

Luck was on their side; they were in. Allura had already opened the hatch for them, making the transition much slicker. As soon as Keith touched down he was sprinting for the medbay. The weight of Lance slumped in his arms should’ve slowed him down, but the adrenalin boost more than made up for it.

“Allura, can you get a pod ready?” Keith asked, panting through the comms. “I’m bringing Lance to the medbay now.”

“Oh thank Jesus,” Pidge cried out.

The others all responded similarly.

But Keith got no reply from Allura. He knew that things had been tense, but Lance’s life was at stake here.

“Shiro, I’m beaming Blue back onto the ship,” Allura told him. “So you can focus all your efforts on defeating the Galra beast.”

Keith could feel his rage boiling beneath his skin, but he just kept running and kept quiet. If the Princess didn’t want to help him, so be it. He would save Lance on his own.

There was a pause, then a long sigh. “Keith,” Allura said. “If I leave the control room it will put the castle and the paladins at a great risk. I’m sorry but I cannot take that chance.”

He honestly hadn’t been expecting a response at all, so even a rejection was welcome. Keith grit his teeth as he turned a corner. He wasn’t far from the medbay now. Keith just hoped Lance could hold out for just a little longer.

The medbay lights flashed on as Keith stumbled into the room. Right- healing pod. That’s when the realisation hit Keith; he’d never worked one of these machines before.

“Fuck me,” Keith gasped, making his way over to the nearest pod. How did he get it do come up? The stupid thing was still tucked into the floor. “Fuck.”

There was a button at the base of it with a glowing Altean symbol. That must be it. Keith pressed down on the circle with his foot. His arms were officially starting to ache now. Thankfully, the pod rose and opened up.

“Here we go,” Keith said. He carefully placed Lance in the pod. He skimmed his fingers across Lance’s pale cheeks, frowning, then adjusted his head slightly so Lance wouldn’t come out of the pod with a crick in his neck. Keith stepped back. “Okay so I’ve done that….” He turned to the control panel on the outer wall of the pod. There were so many different buttons and they were all in Altean. But the big green one stuck out the most. “Well, here goes nothing,” Keith said, pressing down on the inviting green square.

The pod door slid closed and frost clouded the glass until Lance’s features were barely visible.

Keith lingered a little longer. His eyes catching on Lance’s face. He was going to have serious words with that boy once this was over.

“Keith you gonna be joining us any time soon, buddy?” It was Shiro.

“I’m coming,” Keith replied, his throat dry.

…

“Great work, paladins!” Allura said.

The robot-beast had just exploded before them in a ball of beautiful orange light. The sparks of the blow still flickered in the space around the lions.

“Now hurry back to the castle so we can head off to Olkarion.”

Collective sighs could be heard over the comms. Their work really was never over.

When the paladins entered the control room, they found Slav stretched out across the control panel with his many hands and fingers sliding over the buttons. In front of him and Allura were the schematics of the castle.

“Why is there a grand entrance on the fortieth floor? And what’s with all the zip-lines? You have hover technology!” Slav cried out.

Allura had her arms crossed tightly as she turned to him. She flushed. “I’ll have you know, zip-lines were very fashionable ten thousand years ago.”

Slav snorted, unconvinced.

“Allura, have you heard anything from Coran?” Keith asked.

“Yes.” The Princess didn’t turn to face him.

Keith gaped and the ache in his chest pulsed. So that’s how it was going to be now; like he didn’t even exist.

The air in the room became thick with tension. Keith could feel Hunk’s eyes on him.

Shiro stepped forwards. “Princess, how damaged is the castle? Will be still be able to reach Olkarion?”

Allura looked to Shiro with a smile of relief on her face. “Fortunately, the castle is still fully-functioning since the particle barrier took the brunt of the beast’s attacks. I’ve heard back from Coran and the teladuv is almost ready! We’ll be on our way to meet him in a few ticks.”

Shiro nodded. “That’s good to hear.”

“Yes,” Allura said. “And thank you Hunk for collecting the scaltrite. Without that, our plan was sure to fail.” She sent the yellow paladin a winning grin.

“Uh, no problem,” Hunk said, smiling sheepishly. Then he pointed to his left. “Ya know…Keith was there too. It was a team effort.”

Keith could almost feel the hatred behind Allura’s cold stare. The princess remained silent. So she wasn’t going to acknowledge him then, fabulous.

“I’m going to check on Lance,” Keith said. He didn’t wait for a response, just ducked out of the control room as fast as he could. He wasn’t going to spend another minute in there, not with someone who clearly wished he didn’t exist.

Keith also wasn’t sure he wanted to see the others’ reactions to the situation. He knew that Shiro would sympathise with him, but that didn’t mean he would take his side over Allura’s if push came to shove. Shiro was all about the greater good, maintaining the team spirit and all that. Keith knew that Shiro would want him to keep the peace, and the best way to do that was for Keith to remove himself for the equation. For now.

The silence of the medbay was different to that of the control room. Here the quietness lingered softly; it was inoffensive and calming. Despite the light tang of sterilisation, Keith found the change refreshing. He dragged a stool over to where Lance’s healing pod stood. The pod appeared the same as it had earlier when Keith had left and he could see no more of Lance through the glass than he could before.

Keith sat down and stared at him. He let his mind wander to their battle, to Lance’s heroics. Keith wasn’t good with people, as a general rule, but Lance was by far the most complex human he’d ever met. Soon Keith’s thoughts slipped onto Coran and Libby, waiting for them on Olkarion. They would instantly feel the weight of Lance’s absence, Libby especially; Lance had become her rock, he was her everything now. It was clear from the toddler’s expressions that she loved Lance in the fullest and purest way possible, and Keith was beginning to see why.

“His vitals look good.”

“Jesus. Christ.” Keith sprung up, throwing his hands out. His heart slammed against his ribs.

Pidge was stood behind the stool, an electronic pad under her arm. She raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s jumpy…”

Keith gave her a dry look. “I didn’t hear you come in.” He lowered his hands and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m not surprised,” Pidge said, stepping forward. “You were gazing at Lance like you wanted to get in there with him. You were completely out of it.”

Keith bristled slightly but stayed quiet as he watched Pidge fiddle with the pod’s screen.

“As I said, his vitals are looking better,” Pidge continued. “He’ll be fine by the looks of things.”

Keith nodded. He felt his chest lighten.

Pidge swivelled around. “He’ll probably get out some time tomorrow.” She sent Keith a small smile. “Don’t worry about it; he’s survived worse.”

Keith wanted to say that he wasn’t worrying and it clearly showed because Pidge just laughed, slapping him on the shoulder on her way out.

“Hey Pidge,” Hunk greeted at the door. “You better not be going to the engineering room; you need a nap!” He put his hands on his hips as Pidge flipped him the bird. “Gremlin,” he muttered, shaking his head as he strolled into the medbay.

Keith watched Hunk carefully from his spot by the pod.

“Oh, hey man.” Hunk’s eyes widened when he caught sight of Keith. “I didn't think you’d still be here. How’s Lance doing?”

“He’s- Pidge said he’s healing well,” Keith replied.

He jumped when Hunk’s big hand fell onto his shoulder and Keith was suddenly being drawn into a bone-crushing hug.

“Thanks for taking care of him,” Hunk sniffed against Keith, his hands splayed across Keith’s back. “Lance can be such an idiot sometimes, but I love him. He’s my best friend, ya know? I dunno what I’d do without him, I just don’t.”

Keith’s throat had closed up. He slowly melted into the hug and slipped his hands up onto Hunk’s back, returning the gesture.

At least Keith knew where he stood with Pidge and Hunk.

…

“Holy quiznak,” Pidge gasped, running towards the glass. She pressed her face and hands against it to get a closer look at the teladuv. “It’s amazing!”

“It really is,” Coran said. “The Olkari have really out-done themselves. And now we have the scaltrite, it’ll be ready is less than a quintant!”

The rest of the paladins, minus Lance, and Allura gathered round.

“Good job, Coran,” Shiro said.

“I didn’t do much really, just oversaw all the Olkari’s hard work,” Coran replied. He had Libby in his arms and the toddler was suddenly very fascinated in his moustache. Coran was struggling to stop the little girl from ripping it off his face. “Watching the little-one proved to be the harder task.”

Libby soon spotted the paladin’s colourful armour and was twisting around in Coran’s arms, squealing wildly.

“Speaking of which,” Coran continued. “I think somebody wants to see you, Lance.” He scanned his eyes over the group, frowning. “Where’s Lance?”

No one spoke for a moment.

“He’s in a healing pod, Coran,” Allura told him.

Coran gasped. “By the Ancients, not again. Well, will he be alright?”

“Of course,” the Princess said, her face solemn. “But Libby will have to wait for her reunion, I’m afraid. Now, we need to have the scaltrite moved down to the construction site. Hunk, Shiro, I want you to help me with that.”

The pair nodded.

“Slav,” Allura added. “Coran will show you the teladuv’s schematics so you can begin your work immediately. Pidge, you go with them- your scientific expertise will come in handy. We need that gravity generator up and running as soon as possible.”

Coran peered down at the other alien curiously. He held out a hand. “Nice to make your acquaintance, Slav. I’m Coran, the Princess’s advisor.”

Slav squinted, then shook the hand with four of his own. “Are you the one responsible for the zip-lines?” He asked.

“Zip-lines?”

“Keith,” Allura cut in quickly. “You’ll take Libby for now.”

“Uh,” Keith open his mouth to argue when he found his arms filled with purple child. Allura had swept her up out of Coran’s grasp and into his before either had the chance to object.

“Now, chop chop everyone,” Allura said as she ushered them out. “We’ve got an empire to topple.”

…

Purple doors slide open with a hiss.

“Thace,” Haggar snarled.

The commander was strapped to an upright slab. The restraints were infallible so he saw no point in struggling; it would only bring more joy to the witch.

“You’ve betrayed your emperor and your species.” Haggar raised her spindly hands as she crept closer. “I will make you spill your secrets, traitor. Don’t think that because my druids can’t break you that nothing will.” She lifted her head to press her mouth against his ear. “Remember, spy, we have your daughter,” Haggar whispered.

Thace bristled. “You wouldn’t; you need her.”

Haggar pulled back. “Maybe. But I don’t need her healthy or happy, just alive. So, unless you want me to break your daughter, Thace, I suggest you start talking.”


	3. United

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for all the lovely feedback! You guys are fab. :D

Keith stood uneasily in the corridor as he watched the others leave. He couldn't believe that Allura had dumped Libby on him; Keith had no clue how to look after her. What if he hurt her? What if she died?! Keith dropped his eyes onto the child balancing awkwardly in his arms and let out a long breath.

“I’ll be in the castle if any of you need to reach me,” he announced.

Shiro, who was lagging behind the rest of the group, was just about to turn the corner. He faced Keith with a conflicted expression. “Ok Keith,” he replied, nodding. “Good luck with her and stay out of trouble. We’ll be back before you know it.”

Keith wanted to send him a reassuring smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

Shiro gave him a thumbs-up then disappeared off.

And then there were two, Keith thought.

Libby was sucking on her fist idly, seeming perfectly content being held in Keith’s arms. The thin fur that covered her body was ridiculously soft. It was no wonder that Lance and the others loved to tickle her all the time. Libby’s eyes fluttered slightly. She was unapologetically Galra and Keith suddenly found himself nervous; he was part Galra so probably shared more similarities with the little girl than the rest of the team. He didn’t know how he felt about that. Keith shifted her in his arms so he was holding her back as she gazed out over his shoulder.

He was going to check on Lance. Maybe the sleeping boy would give him some advice.

Medbay was daunting with only the gentle sounds that Libby released as she twisted her fingers in Keith’s hair to fill the otherwise silent space.

Keith pulled up a stool again and sat down before Lance’s pod. His vitals were improving so he was still on track to wake up sometime the next day. Keith racked his eyes over Lance’s sleeping form; was he dreaming or was his mind blank? It was surprisingly relaxing, just sitting there and staring. Keith rubbed his hand idly against Libby’s back as she continued to run her tiny fingers through his silky curls. It was an odd sensation, but Keith was becoming quite accustomed to it now.

Did Libby register Lance’s absence? She must do, Keith thought. He was sure that Libby could identify them all by smell or something, that seemed like a legitimate Galra skill.

The fingers were gone from Keith’s scalp in a second and then tremors wracked through Libby’s body. Keith stilled his hand as he moved the toddler down onto his lap. Her face was scrunched up and she began to whimper.

Oh no.

Libby’s hands were clenched as her crying grew ever louder.

Okay, don’t panic, Keith thought as his heart rate picked up. His hands were frozen on Libby’s waist as she continued to sob and shake her fists. Nope, he was definitely panicking.

Why is she crying? What did he do wrong?

For some reason, Keith flung his eyes towards Lance. Oh yes, he was unconscious. Right.

Libby was chewing on her thumb with tears streaming down her cheeks and leaving her fur damp. She gazed up at Keith with wide, sad yellow eyes.

Keith looked down at her helplessly. Then it hit him- maybe she was hungry? When was the last time she ate? He pulled her against him and stood up. He moved towards the exit before coming to a halt. Oh God, what did baby Galra even eat? Keith was tempted to glance back at Lance again but resisted. There must be something in Lance’s room; that’s where they’d stowed most of the baby supplies.

So that’s where Keith went. He tried to maintain a calm walking speed, but the crescendo of Libby’s wailing pushed him to speed up.

As he reached the door, Keith hesitated. He’d never been in Lance’s room before. Would Lance mind? Of course not, it was for Libby. But it still felt very, very weird. Slowly, Keith pressed his palm against the sensors and the door slid open to reveal the room behind.

Lance’s room was almost identical to Keith’s; the twin bed, couple of pegs, minimalist wardrobe, ensuite bathroom. It was small and for some reason felt remarkably homely, despite having no additional decor to achieve such an effect. Keith couldn’t help but feel guilty as he stepped over the threshold and into the room.

The baby supplies were piled up in a orderly manner in the far corner of the room. Bottles, food jars, toys, and clothes were among the many items. Keith hoisted Libby further up on his hip, then leant down to inspect the various food options. Obviously, it was all in Altean so mean nothing to him, but Keith noticed that Lance had stuck little notes on the different jars.

Keith selected one with the label ‘lunch’.

As he was turning to head towards the kitchen, Keith caught sight of what could only be described as Altean nappies. Oh. Oh no, Keith thought. He glanced down at the unhappy Galra in his arms. He’d forgotten about what would happen to the food after she’d eaten it. Keith just hoped that someone else would be around the handle that when the time came. Coran, preferably; only he and Lance were cut out for this kind of thing.

So the kitchen was their next stop. It felt like such a relief when Libby instantly settled down as the smell of the food hit her nostrils. Keith had sat the toddler on the counter and quickly spooned the sloppy baby food out of the jar and into her hungry mouth. Libby was intensely focused on the small spoon as it journeyed back and forth. She gobbled down all of the mushy substance eagerly and finished it off in a matter of minutes.

Keith chuckled as he went to wipe away the remains from around her mouth. He couldn’t deny how insanely adorable the little Galra was.

Once everything was tidied away, Keith decided to take Libby to the rec room so they could hang out there for a while. The toddler had calmed down immensely now her tummy was filled with food, and she lay rather sedately against Keith’s chest after he’d settled down on the sofa.

After a few minutes of cuddling, which in reality freaked Keith out a lot less than he’d anticipated, he spotted a book laying on the table. He stretched out his arm to grab it, trying not to disturb Libby. It was a comic. An Altean comic, clearly, but someone had translated it into English. Huh. Whose was it? Pidge’s? No, Keith didn’t reckon she had time for something like this.

The idea hit him like a freight train. Keith glanced down at Libby, she was nuzzling against him with her eyes only partially open. He turned the comic to the first page and began to read aloud.

…

Keith nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his name being called down the corridor. He lowered the comic; he was nearing the end of the translated section now. The story had been so captivating, Keith had been quick to lose himself in it. He couldn’t remember when he’d stopped reading the words aloud, but Libby was fast asleep against his torso so Keith considered his babysitting a success.

“Keith! There you are,” Shiro said, peering in. He smiled widely as he took in the sight of Keith curled up on the sofa with Libby. “I see you’re surviving.”

Keith flushed.

“Is she asleep?” Shiro asked, lowering his voice.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded. “Are you guys stopping for a break or what?”

“No, we’re all finished. We came back to change for dinner. The olkari have invited us all to dine with them, along with Kolivan and Antok. Allura’s requested we wear something formal.”

God, how long had Keith been sat here reading?

“Oh, uh, right,” he shifted, careful to not wake Libby up as he rose from the sofa. “I’ll just put her in her crib then change.”

Shiro smirked, watching as Keith dropped a book onto the table before moving to leave. “We’ll probably need to bring her with us for the meal; we can’t exactly leave in the castle alone. Even I know that much.”

Keith nodded. “Okay then, the crib has wheels so that’s fine. Where are we meeting?”

“In the entrance hall in half a varga.”

They’d been forced into formal wear before. Each paladin had their own set of formal attire in their wardrobes for these sort of occasions. Apparently they were traditional Altean clothes that were worn in the royal court ten thousand years ago. Coran had told them that although the style was a little outdated, the garments still radiated sophistication and grace.

Honestly though, Keith was just annoyed that he had to shed his beloved gloves.

When he finally entered the hall, Keith was very surprised to find he wasn’t the last one to arrive. Shiro was there, obviously, and so was Hunk. However, Pidge was still missing, along with the Princess and Coran.

“Keith,” Hunk greeted with a smile as he spotted the red paladin stride in, pushing the crib ahead of him. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m alright, thanks,” Keith replied, slightly taken aback by the attention. “You guys are looking sharp.”

They were. Their traditional Altean garb was very flattering on them. The colours seemed to match their personalities perfectly and Keith wondered how much thought Coran had put into who got which clothes. Shiro donned a monochrome outfit decorated with occasional purple, blue, and silver swirls. Hunk’s on the other hand was composed of a range of bright and bold colours which was warm and welcoming to the eye.

“Thanks Keith,” Shiro said, smiling somewhat proudly. “You too.”

Hunk nodded rapidly in agreement.

Keith didn’t believe them, but appreciated the gesture none-the-less. He personally thought his navy and black get-up was far too floaty for his liking; it hung off his lean, muscular frame in a way that made him feel kind of exposed. Keith, as a general rule, only wore clothes he could fight someone in.

“She’s so cute when she’s asleep,” Hunk sighed happily as he leaned over the crib, gazing down at Libby. “I swear my heart explodes every time I see her little ears. It’s a shame you didn’t inherit those, Keith.”

Shiro chuckled. “Can you imagine?”

Keith felt himself blush. “You guys are weird. Seriously messed up.”

Shiro just laughed harder and Hunk sniggered next to him. It was actually really nice to see Shiro letting his hair down for once, so to speak. The man was too highly strung most of the time, constantly thinking about the bigger picture. Keith reckoned Shiro deserved some serious down-time after this was all over. They all did.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Allura said as she swept into the the room with Coran at her side. “Pidge will be along shortly.”

If the Princess usually looked stunning, she was absolutely mesmerising now. But if her face was anything to go by, it was clear that Allura was just as uncomfortable playing dress-up as Keith was.

“You look amazing, Princess,” Hunk said, grinning.

Shiro nodded in encouragement.

“Doesn’t she just?” Coran stepped forward, looking immensely proud of himself.

Allura laughed. “Thank you, Hunk. Coran picked the dress. I’m not very good with these things, you see.”

That’s when Pidge stepped in with her shoulders raised defensively and her lips pursed nervously. She wore a forest green dress that hung past her knees, with a golden sash tied around her waist. Coran had obviously done her hair; it was plaited to form a sort of crown on her head. Pidge nudged her glasses up her nose, drawing everyone’s gaze to the golden glitter dusted across her eyelids.

“What?” She bristled with the attention. “I can like dresses if I want.”

“Of course, Pidge,” Shiro assured. “You look fab, that’s all.” He gave her a thumbs up.

Pidge eyed him for a moment, then her cool exterior melted. She stood up straighter. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road.”

They all followed her lead as she strutted down the hall towards the main exit.

…

Half way through the meal a thought hit Keith; Lance would’ve loved this, dining and dressing up. He was always talking about parades and celebrations, it’s such a shame he had to miss this one.

Libby was still fast asleep in her crib, which had been placed between Keith and Coran. Coran had told Keith he could resume his care taking duties now, if he wished. Keith had nodded, but the older Altean noticed that he wasn’t ready to let go just yet. So they compromised.

Allura was of course sat at the head of the table with Kolivan and Antok, Shiro, Slav, and the Olkari leaders. They were deeply immersed in a discussion about the Grand Plan and its execution. Their faces were pulled tight in seriousness. It looked like a lot of work and Keith was secretly relieved he’d been stuck at the ‘kids’ end’ of the table.

“Isn’t that right, Keith?”

“Huh?” Keith shook himself out of his thoughts.

Pidge had an eyebrow raised. “You with us or what, Keith?”

“Yeah I’m here. What were you saying?”

Pidge rolled her eyes and Hunk chuckled.

“Pidge was suggesting she run some genetic experiments,” Coran said.

“When you put it like that Coran it sounds bad. And they’re tests, not experiments.”

“It is bad, Pidge,” Hunk cut in. “Lance would never allow it.”

“Lance isn’t here,” Pidge glared. “And he’s not in charge of this team.”

Keith frowned. Weren’t they going to ask for his opinion? It’s his body they’re talking about. And why in hell does Hunk think that Lance would have such strong objections on the matter?

“I just want to analyse a DNA sample,” Pidge continued, putting her fork down. “Is that too much to ask? It’s a precautionary measure. I don’t want anything coming up to bite us in the ass later.”

Coran leaned forward. “You know, the castle data logs will have an extensive section on Galra biology. Why don’t you just start there?”

Hunk nodded.

Pidge let out a long breath. “Fine. But I’m bringing this up to Lance as soon as he wakes up.”

That seemed to settle the argument.

Keith just stared at them all. What had just happened?

The dinner seemed to drag on after that and the diplomacy of it all really began to shine through.

As the desert plates were cleared away by the waiting staff, Allura moved to stand. “I want to thank you all for your hard work and dedication in the fight against the Galra empire. The Olkari and Blade of Marmora have both been indispensable allies of Voltron, and we are indebted to you. Once we have defeated Zarkon, it is my hope that we can continue to unite our forces and build the once great coalition that my father, King Alfor, began.”

The Olkari raised their glasses and drank, while Kolivan and Antok dipped their heads in acknowledgement. Shiro and the paladins just looked up at her and beamed. Except Keith, who suppressed his desire to smile.

“You are most welcome, Princess Allura,” Ryna, the Olkari leader, said. “It has been our honour to serve Voltron and assist in the battle against Zarkon’s tyranny.”

Kolivan then placed his fist against his chest. “The Blade of Marmora has also been honoured to fight alongside Voltron. We hope that our alliance may thrive, so that together we may tear down Zarkon’s empire in its entirety, and bring back peace to the universe.”

Everyone drank to that. Then it was time to call it a night; they had a big day tomorrow after all.

…

“Is he ready yet?”

“He’s not an egg, Hunk. There’s no timer.”

Hunk frowned. “I thought there was a timer.”

Pidge nudged his hands away from the control panel. “You can input a certain length of time for a sequence, but Keith just put Lance in the pod with the classic healing sequence.”

“Is that bad?” Keith asked, leaning forward.

“No. It just means Lance will be let out when he’s all healed, whenever that may be,” Pidge assured him. She crossed her arms as she stared at the screen. “And if I’m right, then that should be right about now…”

All three sets of eyes were immediately pinned on the pod.

They waited, and waited.

A green light flashed on the panel and the pod hissed as the glass began to defrost.

“Oh my God,” Hunk said, pushing closer. “Lance! D’you think he can hear us yet? When exactly does his brain wake up?”

Pidge elbowed him in the stomach. “Chill, Hunk. Just let the pod do its thing.”

Nerves flittered under Keith’s skin. He stood back a little, not wanting to be in the way when Lance did finally make his appearance. He felt too cool and too hot all at once and his heart had gone into overdrive. Why? Gods knows.

The pod had opened up completely now and Lance’s thawed body flopped forwards. Hunk moved to catch him, hugging the other boy to his chest and helping him to sit on the nearby stool. Keith must’ve left it there when he last visited. Oops.

“Hunk?”

“Lance! Oh my god I’m so happy you’re okay!” Hunk squished him in another hug.

Lance’s eyes were still quite droopy, but he had a warm smile on his face as he took in his surroundings over Hunk’s shoulder. “Pidge, hey. Is that glitter on your face? I like it.”

Pidge stuck her tongue out at him. “Nice to have you back you ass.”

Keith could feel his heart in his throat when Lance’s blue eyes finally latched onto him. “Hi,” he croaked. Keith flushed and cleared his throat.

“Keith!” Lance gaped up at him. “Hey, man.” His grin widened slightly. “Aw guys, I should get injured more often if this is the kind of party I get.”

Hunk just squeezed him tighter.

Pidge punched his arm. “Bitch you better not.”

“Don’t do that,” Keith said, giving him a flat look.

Lance faked outrage then laughed. “Just kidding guys, jeez. But seriously though, thanks. It’s good to be back.” His hug with Hunk had finally ended, so Lance sat back on the stool a little. He ran his hands over his thighs. “So where are the others at?”

“Preparing to launch the teladuv,” Keith told him. “We were sent to fetch you before go-time.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Well, Shiro said for me to get you. I’m the only one who knows how to work the damn pods. These two just tagged along for the banter.”

Hunk shrugged. “S’true.”

Lance deflated a little. “So, the Grand Plan’s good to go then?”

“Yup,” Pidge chirped. She glanced at her watch. “We should get a move on. We’re not in any rush, but I can tell that Allura’s desperate to get this over with.”

A growl erupted from Lance’s stomach. His hands flew to cover it, grinning sheepishly.

“Ok, breakfast first then,” Hunk said.

The quartet traipsed over to the castle kitchen.

“So how long was I in the pod for, exactly?” Lance asked on the way. He no longer needed support in walking, but Hunk still had his arm draped over his shoulder none-the-less.

“Depends,” Pidge said. “When did you get him in there, Keith?”

Lance felt the air leave him. Keith helped him? When did this happen? To be honest, Lance couldn’t remember anything after he jumped in front of that laser… Maybe Keith felt like he had to return the favour.

“I- I don’t remember,” Keith replied after a beat. “It all happened so fast, I didn’t get the chance to check the time.” He forced himself not to glimpse at Lance next to him.

Pidge shrugged. “Over twelve hours then, at least.”

“Well I feel great, so it was worth it,” Lance grinned. He stretched his arms out wide, accidentally hitting Keith in the chest as he did so. “Totally refreshed and ready to go. Best nap ever!”

Keith sent him a soft glare as he felt Lance’s hand brush against him.

They hadn’t been in the kitchen two seconds before Hunk pushed Lance into the nearest chair and served him up the largest bowl of food goo topped with some kind of chopped fruit.

Lance immediately tucked in. “Oh my gawd Hunk I love you,” he moaned dramatically, his mouth full of food.

Pidge pulled a face from the seat opposite. “That’s gross, Lance. No one wants to see that.”

Hunk barked out a laugh, pulling up a chair to sit next to his best friend.  
  
The disapproval didn’t stop Lance. He continued to make some rather impressive noises as he shovelled his first meal in over twelve hours into his open mouth, barely chewing between bites.

Keith flushed at the sounds, leaning against the counter. He then raised an eyebrow;  
he didn’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted that Lance practically inhale his food within minutes.

It wasn’t long before Shiro popped his head around the door. “Oh good, you’re here,” he said, stepping in. “Lance, glad to have you back and all healed up. How’re you feeling?” Shiro sent him a smile.

“Hey Shiro! Oh I’m feeling fab. Super dooper,” Lance greeted, trying to talk and smile around his food. He managed to spit some out and onto his shirt. “Aw no…”

Shiro frowned slightly. “Anyway… we’re aiming to launch the teladuv in about a varga, so if you could all have your lions in the air by then, that would be great.”

“Sure thing Shiro,” Pidge saluted.

The rest of them nodded.

“I better change into my armour,” Hunk said once Shiro had gone. “It always takes me forever to put on. Does anyone else find that?”

Lance hummed in agreement.

“I’ll head back with you,” Pidge added. “I left my helmet in my room.”

The pair left without any further warning, leaving Lance and Keith alone in the kitchen as the blue paladin finished off his food pile.

Keith wished he had an excuse to leave like the others, but he was already in his armour and his helmet was with Red. So really, he was stuck here. Keith raked his eyes over Lance. He still needed to thank him for taking the brunt of that blast the other day- if he hadn’t…. well. But how did Keith go about it?

“So you saved me, huh?”

“What?” Keith shook himself out of his thoughts. Lance was staring back at him, his bowl now empty.

“Pidge said you’re the one who got me into the pod,” Lance clarified. There was a strange look in his eyes that Keith couldn’t decipher; it wasn’t something he recognised.

“Uh, yeah. I had to get into Blue to reach you; you’d passed out in your chair,” Keith said. “I jet-packed us to the castle and brought you to medbay. It’s not really a big deal, anyone would’ve done it.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “I know they would’ve, but that’s not the point. Thanks man, you really saved my ass back there.” He cleared his throat. His cheekbones were dusted pink and Lance averted his eyes. “I honestly don’t remember anything after I got hit so… . Just, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Keith replied. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his eyes. “You, er, looked in pretty bad shape when I found you so… yeah. I’m glad you’re better. ”

Lance was staring at him again. His eyes were so blue.

Keith straightened up and looked at the other boy head on. “Thanks for taking that hit for me and everything. I know I’d have been toast otherwise. But also, don’t you fucking dare do something like that again you selfish asshole.”

Lance gaped and pushed himself up of his seat. “The fuck Keith?! I was trying to help- I saved your life, you should be grateful!”

“I am grateful!” Keith jerked forward to meet him. “But you took a stupid risk, you dick. We were all really worried about you. You were passed out in your lion for God’s sake, bleeding from a head injury. You could’ve been seriously hurt- you were seriously hurt! So don’t you dare think about doing something so fucking stupid again…”

They were inches apart. Lance could feel Keith’s breath brush his face as he panted after his rant. Keith’s cheeks were flushed a dark red and his eyes glistened with anger and something else, something softer. Lance opened his mouth to reply, only to find his throat was dessert dry.

For a minute neither said a word. They just gazed endlessly into the each other’s eyes.

“Lance, my boy!”

The pair sprung apart, tearing their eyes away and towards the door. It was Coran and Libby.

“How are you?” Coran continued, entering the room, completely oblivious to previous tension. He glanced down at the empty bowl and smiled. “Probably feeling a lot better after a meal; those healing pods work wonders, but they do leave you starving.”

Lance laughed nervously, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat. “Er, hey Coran. You’re so right, I felt like I could’ve eaten a horse when I woke up.”

“A horse?”

“Yeah, you know, a large Earth mammal that you can ride…” Lance waved his hand. “It’s just a saying anyway, we don’t usually eat horses. Forget I said anything.”

Coran shrugged. “Well, I know someone who’s desperate to see you,” he said, holding Libby out for Lance.

Libby was wriggling around in Coran’s grasp like crazy. She reached her hands out to try and touch Lance, squealing and giggling all the while. Her mouth was stretched into the biggest, happiest smile ever. Lance had never seen her so excited.

He melted instantly under her yellow eyes and stepped forward to take her from Coran. “Hey sweetie, how are you?”

Libby’s fingers wandered over his face, ears and hair. She tugged and pinched and stroked his smooth human skin with an intense focus, having quietened down as soon as she entered Lance’s arms.

Lance let out a laugh as Libby poked a tiny finger up his nose. He grabbed her hand to gently pull it away. “Yeah, I missed you too Libby,” he said, smiling brightly.

Soon enough, after Libby had finished her touchy-feely test and was reassured that Lance was fine, she flopped against his chest and nuzzled her face into his neck.

Keith’s mind flashed back to the other day when he was in exactly the same position. He couldn’t help but feel like he hadn’t appreciated the affection enough though. Lance, however, was basking in it and practically glowing from the attention of the tiny Galra. Keith couldn’t help but smile softly at their reunion.

“Did she behave for you, Coran?” Lance asked, stroking one of Libby’s fluffy ears.

“She was golden!” Coran replied, placing a hand on his hip. “She found the Olkari very interesting; I had to pull her away from Ryna a couple of times…” He twisted his moustache. “But other than that, Libby was a star. How was she the other day, Keith?”

Lance turned to Keith in surprise, eyebrows sky-high.

“Keith was assigned babysitting duties yesterday, while the rest of us were busy with finishing the teladuv,” Coran explained. “From what I hear, he did a pretty good job.”

Once again, Keith could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. “I- I was okay I guess. Libby was good; she behaved. She only cried once but that’s because she was hungry. I didn’t realise that at first… but then it hit me and yeah. She was fine after that. We hung out in the rec room for the rest of the time.”

Lance was gazing at him again with that odd look in his eyes. “That’s great. Glad to hear it,” he said. He leant down to kiss the top of Libby’s head, who purred in response.

Coran glanced down at his Altean-style watch. “It’s time to go boys, I’m afraid.”

Lance dragged his eyes away from Libby. “Seriously? So soon? It’s been like five minutes.” He turned to Keith helplessly.

Keith frowned, thinking it was unfair to give Lance so little time to recover and readjust from the pod. Especially with Libby involved.

Lance sighed deeply and kissed Libby once more, before passing her back to Coran. “You two take care, alright. We’ve got some Galra ass to kick. You coming Keith?” He moved towards the door.

Keith stroked Libby’s cheek gently on his way out. “See you later Coran, Libby.”

“Best of luck!” Coran called after them.

The pair were making their way towards the lions’ hangars when Lance came to a sudden halt.

Keith turned to him. “Lance?”

“I forgot to put my armour on,” Lance replied. “Shit. Now I’m gonna be late. Aw, Allura’s gonna kill me.” He started backwards. “Tell them I’ll be there in a tick!”

Keith nodded, smirking slightly as he watched Lance sprint back down the corridor. What a nerd.

…

Everyone was gathered in the control room for the final outline of the Grand Plan. Shiro stood in the centre of the room, using virtual images of the teladuv, the black lion, and Zarkon’s command ship to demonstrate how it was all going to go down.

“Keeping the teladuv out of sight until the last possible second is crucial,” he finished. “We can count on you right, Slav?”

All eyes flickered to Slav who was stood between Hunk and Pidge. He was stroking his chin with one of his many hands. His eyes widened with the attention. “Absolutely. I’ll be fine.”

Shiro nodded.

“I’m not sure about that gravity generator though…”

Hunk’s eyebrows flew up. “Wait, what? I’m sorry, what was that last bit?”

Slav sighed. “I’ve never had to build a gravity generator for something this large before! I know it’ll work, but I just don’t know for how long.”

Well, that’s awkward.

Shiro frowned. “That’s just a risk we’ll have to take. Once Zarkon’s ship is in position, Kolivan and Antok will coordinate with Thace. Together, they’ll take down Zarkon’s security system and upload the virus.”

“Then he’ll be a sitting duflax,” Pidge smirked, nudging her glasses.

Lance giggled but no one else seemed to get it.

Pidge waggled her eyebrows at Lance; he knew what’s up. She rolled her eyes at the others. “What? A duflax is an Altean creature with a beak and webbed feet.”

Ah.

“Oh right! I get it now,” Hunk said. “Good one Pidge.” He patted her on the shoulder.

“We’ll wormhole Zarkon five hundred million light years away,” Coran cried, leaping forwards to push the virtual ship into a model wormhole and then threw it across the room.

Shiro winced as it crashed against the floor.

“And he’ll be in a different galaxy before he knows what’s hit him!” Coran puffed his chest and crossed his arms.

No one really knew how to react to that. But Lance sent the older Altean a thumbs up when he glanced towards him and Keith.

“What about Thace?” Shiro asked, turning to the Blade members.

“He should be getting into position now,” Kolivan said. “We received his last communication three quintants ago; we should hear from him soon.”

Shiro nodded, then faced the group as a whole. “Then let’s do this.”

…

Thace gritted his teeth as another surge of electricity flowed through him. His muscles tensed up from the stimulation and he could feel the air rush from his lungs. He tried not to cry out, but pained sounds slipped from his mouth anyway.

“Thace, you have been sending encrypted messages to outside forces,” one druid said. “Of this we are keenly aware.”

There were two of them; one to torture, one to question.

“Encryptions can be broken, just like you.”

The druid at the panel slide their finger up, increasing the electricity level.

Thace felt himself seize up again. The surge of power burned through him, deep enough for the fiery pain to lick his bones. He screamed.

“It was you who destroyed the sentries and powered down the solar barrier; you allowed Voltron to escape.” The druid continued, slipping closer. “You betrayed Zarkon! Who else is part of this conspiracy?”

And then the pain was back. Thace hardly had time to catch his breath before another bout of electricity hit him hard.

“You’ll never get anything from me,” he panted. “And tell Haggar, good luck with using Mywa against me; she’s not even my real daughter!” He barked out a laugh.

The druid gripped his neck with their long, sharp nails. “You better watch your tongue, traitor. And you can keep up with that pretence all you want, but we all know you cared enough about that orphan to save her once. So I’m certain you shall do the same again.”

Thace spat blood on their mask.

…

“Zarkon took the bait. He’s got my location,” Shiro announced, his face popping up on the screen in the control room. “Is everybody in position?”

Kolivan stepped forward. “We’ve not yet heard from Thace. He was supposed to contact us two vargas ago.” He glanced at Antok.

“He could’ve been captured, or killed,” Antok added.

“We need to abort the mission immediately,” Kolivan said.

“Abort!?” Allura cried from the castle’s control panel. “No! We cannot back away now, not when we’re so close.”

“The Blade of Marmora does not take chances,” Antok told her. “It’s how we’ve survived for so long.”

Allura shook her head. “It’s held you back! Your caution is the reason that Zarkon’s still in power.”

Lance exchanged a look with Hunk. This was not looking good.

“We would rather wait than jeopardise all that we’ve worked for,” Kolivan said. He ran a hand over his head. “Besides, it’s too late to get someone else on the inside. Without Thace, we cannot disable the security system or upload the virus.”

“I’ll do it.” Keith stood up.

“What?” Allura frowned at him.

Keith moved forward. “I’ll sneak onto Zarkon’s ship. I’m Galra, so I’ll be able to interact with their technology. Pidge, you can rig up one of the pods with a cloaking device, right?”

“Well, yeah of course,” Pidge replied. She frowned. “But-”

“Going onto Zarkon’s ship is a suicide mission,” Kolivan cut in. “I would never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous.”

Keith pushed his shoulders back. “No one’s commanding me. I’m doing it.”

“Keith, are you sure this is the best idea?” Lance asked from his seat. His eyebrows were furrowed with concern. “If they’ve captured Thace, that must mean they’re onto us.”

“Yeah,” Hunk added. “You have no never what’s waiting for you in there.”

Keith glanced at them and pursed his lips. He’d never seen his team mates so openly distressed about his well being before. He felt a certain warmth flood his chest. It only made him more determined to go. “I know the risks,” he told them. “I want to do this.”

If Keith didn’t do this now, to help his friends complete the mission they’ve been working towards for months, then what was he doing here. If Keith didn’t do this now, then what was the point. He’d be letting them all down.

Allura sent him a look that he couldn’t quite decipher.

“Pidge,” Shiro’s voice pierced through the tension. “Get that pod ready.” He paused. “Keith, let me know when you’re on your way- I’ll give you cover.”

That was it then. He was really doing this. No turning back.

Keith nodded. “Thanks Shiro.”

“Well, now that’s sorted, everyone get to their lions,” Allura ordered, regaining control. “The mission is officially about to begin.”

The remaining paladins rushed out of the room.

Pidge was muttering to herself about stupid last minute alterations and asking herself where the quiznak she’d left the spare cloaking devices. She pulled up outside the engineering room. “I’ll meet you in the pod hangar, alright Keith?”

Keith nodded. “Okay, sure.”

Then it was just the three of them.

“So this is it then,” Hunk said, breaking the silence. “The end of the Galra empire.”

“We haven’t defeated them yet Hunk,” Keith sighed.

“Oh no, I know that. Obviously. I was just trying to be all dramatic and shit.”

Keith’s lips twitched into a smirk.

“We need to at least try and be optimistic,” Lance added. He punched Keith in the arm. “Especially since this mullet-head decided to throw himself straight into the eye of the quiznakking storm.”

“Hey!” Keith recoiled, bringing his other hand up to protect himself. “The hell, Lance? I’m just doing what had to be done. It makes sense.”

“Sure it does you asshole…” Lance muttered under his breath.

Keith stiffened slightly but kept walking. He’d thought he finally knew where he stood with Lance; he thought that they’d made a break through in the kitchen this morning. Apparently not. Apparently Lance still saw him as a rival and still disliked him. Not hate, Keith realised that it obviously wasn’t hate. But Lance would certainly never want to be his friend, that much was clear.

Hunk came to a stop.

They’d reach the turning for the lions’ hangars. This was where they parted.

Hunk crushed Keith in a hug. “Stay safe out there Galra Keith.”

Keith was quicker to return the gesture this time around. He chuckled lightly. “You too, Hunk.”

When they broke apart, Hunk was wiping away tears from his cheeks.

Keith faced Lance cautiously as he opened his mouth to wish him well.

Lance had other ideas however. He slid forward and wrapped his arms around Keith’s neck, tugging their bodies together. “Don’t be a dick and die Keith,” he whispered.

Keith wanted to melt into him. His throat was painfully dry and his heart fluttered in his chest. “I won’t, I promise.”

Lance nodded, making his cheek brushing Keith’s as he accepted the response.

They parted slowly, with Lance’s hand lingering on Keith a tad longer than necessary.

“Oh my god are you guys still here?” Pidge asked, jogging over. In her arms was the large and heavy cloaking device.

Whatever moment they were having before vanished swiftly. It was time to go. They all said their final goodbyes as Hunk and Lance left to fetch their lions, whilst Pidge and Keith went to ready a pod.

…

“Pidge, can I have a moment with Keith please?” It was Allura.

Keith looked at her, trying to figure out her motive.

Pidge stepped back from the pod that was all set to go. The cloaking device was pretty easy to install. She glanced between Keith and Allura a couple of times. “Uh, sure. Have as many moments as you want. Catch you later Keith. Don’t do anything Lance would do.”

Keith rolled his eyes to which he got a stuck-out tongue in response.

Allura walked over to him.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Keith asked.

Allura closed her eyes for a moment. “Keith, I just wanted to say… the Galra, they’ve done terrible things. They’ve destroyed entire civilisations. They took my family.” She looked him in the eye and Keith could see the tears beginning to form. He could see the depths of her grief. “But I realise now that you can have more than one family in a lifetime, and I’ve come to consider this team to be my family.”

Keith’s breath caught. He still wasn’t sure whether he was included in that.

“And when I learnt you were Galra,” Allura continued, wringing her fingers. “I didn’t know what to think. I wanted to hate you!”

“Allura,” Keith sighed. He knew where this was going. It hurt enough; he didn’t need it in words too. “It’s okay, I-”

“No, it’s not okay!” Allura snapped.

Keith shrank back.

Her eyes widened and filled with tears. She held a hand out to soothe him. “I’m sorry. I just meant, I understand now that all this hatred… the problem here is me, not you Keith.”

What?

Allura sniffed. “My anger and my prejudices have blinded me for so long now, I almost don’t know how to function without them to fuel me. But I can’t continue like this. I can’t let my hate control me anymore, not since it’s caused me to hurt you.”

Keith had no words.

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Allura finished. She barrelled into him, placing her hands over one of his shoulders to pull Keith into an awkward, hesitant embrace. “I should never have treated you the way I did. I should never have changed my opinion of you once I discovered that you’re Galra. But what you’re doing now, it shows that I have really misjudged you. You’re a good person Keith, and the universe needs more people like you.”

Keith lifted his hands to her back.

“Please come back to us Keith,” Allura told him. “This team, this family… it needs you. You will always have a place here with us. I’m sorry I made you doubt that.”

The sound of Allura’s sobs clogged the air and Keith found his own cheeks were wet with tears. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Allura, I know how hard this was for you. Thanks for talking with me. ”

Allura nodded against his shoulder and sniffed loudly.

Then she stepped back and tried to compose herself. “Good luck, Keith.” She sent him a small smile.

“You too, Princess,” Keith replied with a smile of his own.

 

 


	4. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So this is the last chapter. I am planning to write a sequel that continues into season 3 (which will diverge from the canon more). Thanks for all your support! You guys are great <3
> 
> Just a quick note about this chapter (and probably for future ones too): Underlined words are those spoken in a language other than English. In this case, Altean. 
> 
> That's all. Hope you enjoy the final chapter!

“Okay, we’ve got Zarkon’s ship right where it needs to be,” Shiro said as the green, blue, and yellow lions joined the battle. “We’ve gotta keep it here until that virus is uploaded.”

“Let’s do it!” Hunk yelled.

“Alright!” Lance chimed in.

Pidge smirked. “We got this.”

They fly straight into the mass of purple ships, energised and undaunted. They were ready to kick major Galra ass.

…

Keith sprinted down the runway in the central hub. He reached the end where he found a large compilation of control panels and screens. “Kolivan, I’m in. Now what?”

“Now you need to reset the system, using the codes that Thace obtained,” came Kolivan’s response. “It’ll be down for a dobash; that’s when we’ll upload the virus.”

Keith nodded, accessing the screen in his gauntlet. He found the code and typed it into the Galra system.

The code was denied.

“It doesn’t seem to be working,” Keith said, frowning. He gazed back down at his gauntlet screen to double check the symbol combination.

“Try it again,” Kolivan told him unhelpfully.

The door behind him hissed before bursting open.

Oh fuck. Keith ducked behind a metal structure off to one side. His heart fluttered uncontrollably in his chest. He can’t afford to waste time- this virus needs uploading now.

A Galra came running down to the controls and began typing furiously. They seemed to be in pretty bad shape, their fur matted with blood. Their yellows eyes flashed with a potent mixture of raw determination and desperation that Keith had never seen in a Galra before.

It wasn’t long before the doors slid open once again.

“And now we know that you were attempting to shut down the system,” announced a mechanical voice.

Keith frowned. What the hell? He peeked out to see two cloaked figures fly towards the lone Galra. Ah fuck me, Keith groaned internally. Druids.

His heart picked up when the Galra didn’t turn away from the controls, still trying to input a code of some sort. Keith drew his bayard. Could it be?

The druids were getting closer.

“You’re too late,” the Galra growled at them as he spun around.

The control panel beeped its denial.

“No, Thace,” the druid said, pausing in its approach. “You’re too late. As you can see, we already changed the code.”

The screens began to flash and a louder, more shrill noise began to blare. Too many wrong codes had been entered; the system was now on lockdown. They’d failed.

“No,” Thace gasped.

Keith watched as Thace glanced back at the panels then turned to snarl at the druids, raising his blade. He had to do something, Keith told himself. It was now or never. This was his chance.

The druids rose up and moved in for the kill, black pulses of energy growing in their hands.

Keith sprinted out from his hiding place and launched his own blade through the air. It glowed white as it sailed towards the druids. It pierced the one closest to him, causing the being to cry out as purple light crackled and consumed them. Keith’s blade dropped to the floor in front of Thace.

Thace ran forward whilst Keith reached for his blade and joined him.

Keith leapt up with his weapon poised, ready to deliver a fatal blow, only to be knocked aside. He yelped as he was sent flying off the side of the platform. Keith managed to slam his blade into the runway’s edge, keeping him from falling into void below. Shit. That was too close.

Thace continued to face the druid head-on, slicing and blocking. But the druid kept disappearing into thin air only to reappear elsewhere, catching Thace off-guard each time as the Galra struggled to keep up with the pace of the fight. His head was spinning as the druid led him around in circles. He stumbled backwards towards the door, raising his blade higher as the druid flashed back into view in front of him. Thace jumped into the fight again, swinging his blade down in his rage.

Keith sprung up to join Thace in the assault.

The druid faded away, then floated above them. Black lightning built up in their hands and fired towards them.

Keith felt the heat of the blast through his armour as he dodged out of the way. Just in time.

Then the druid was on the ground again, with another bout of energy ready to send in Keith’s direction when Thace threw himself forwards and took the brunt of the quintessence against his blade. The force of the collision sent the blast off to one side. But Thace fell down from the effort.

He saw his opening. Keith kicked the druid forcibly from behind, sending it sprawling into Thace.

Thace picked the being up and launched them towards the ship’s core.

The druid promptly lit up and exploded.

Silence settled around them.

For a moment, Keith let a smile grace his features. They’d done it. Then he turned to the Galra. “Thace, I’m Keith, a paladin of Voltron,” he said.

Thace’s yellow eyes dropped to his weapon. “And a fellow Blade I see.” He sighed. “Then I guess we haven’t failed.

“Not yet,” Keith answered. That was all he could say, really. If they didn’t get this system shut down…

Thace just nodded. He knew what they had to do.

…

Lance grunted as he brought Blue to a sudden stop, halting her downward spiral, before looping up and shooting down the two fighter ships on his tail. Lance laughed as they exploded then took out another ahead. “Aw yeah! That was a close one!”

“Er, guys? A little help here!” Hunk yelped. He had four fighters on his ass.

“Lure them to me,” Shiro ordered.

Hunk’s terrified shouts and complicated, food-related threats rang out over the comms as he lead the fighters over to the black lion.

Shiro nipped in and sliced each ship open with his jaw-blade. They exploded in a mass of flames.

“Oh wow,” Hunk breathed as he pulled Yellow to a stop. “Thanks Shiro. That was- yeah, I needed that.”

“Zarkon’s ship is leaving the teladuv’s area of effect,” Allura warned. “You must guide it back in!”

Each paladin picked up their pace, rushing to destroy as many fighter ships as they could.

Lance clenched his jaw as he sped up his assault on some upcoming opponents. “This is getting hairy. We’re drowning out here!” He cried, slamming his controls forward. “How you doing Keith?” Please, he thought. Please say you’re having better luck on your end.

“The Galra changed the codes,” Keith replied, his voice strained. “We’re trying to work around.”

Lance bit his lip. That was not what he wanted to hear. Wait. “We?” He asked. “Who’s we?”

“Thace,” Keith said. “I found him… Look, don’t worry about that- I’ll explain later.”

“Copy that,” Shiro cut in.

Lance frowned. “Well, okay…” Another ship blew up in front of him. “Just, be careful.”

He swore he heard Keith rolling his eyes. “Sure. You too, Lance. Hang in there.”

And that was it.

Lance wanted it on record that he was not, and never has been, a fan of this splitting up business. He was making sure that everyone was aware of that when this was all over.

…

“What exactly are you doing?” Keith asked.

Thace was fiddling around with the system’s central controls, rerouting wires and pipes. “I’m using the main power to overload the system,” he replied, not bothering to look up from his work.

Keith paused, then his eyebrows flew up. “You’re turning the room into a bomb?” Oh God…

“It’s the only way.” Thace turned this time to stare at Keith. “I’m sorry, Paladin. But I cannot fail the Blade, not now. Zarkon must fall.”

He knew that, he did. Keith just hadn’t been expecting to die on this ship. He knew it was possible, obviously. But their previous plan had had a much higher survival rate for the inside man.

Well fuck him. “If this is the only way, it’s the only way,” Keith told the Galra. “I trust you.”

Thace nodded. “Good. Now keep guard; I’m sure Haggar is aware of our plan by now.”

Keith didn’t question the order and faced the door with a Galra gun poised to fire. He nearly choked on the silence that built up as Thace hurriedly prepared for the power to be re-diverted.

Suddenly an explosion of purple and black lightning sent the hub’s door flying. Sentries spilled into the room.

Keith shot each of them down before they got too far. He needed to block off their entry point. Keith raised his gun and fired at the core hanging above them. A small section broke away, falling to land in front of the door. Thank God for that, he thought. Now they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Oh wait. By blocking the exit, Keith had managed to trap himself and Thace in. And this room was about to blow. Well damn.

“That solves one problem,” he said. “But now we’re trapped in here.”

“No we’re not,” Thace replied. “There’s an exit through the main power conduit. It leads to the second deck.”

Oh thank the Lord. They could still make it out of this. Keith stared down into the pit below. It was hard to believe that it led to anywhere good. It looked more like an endlessly void.

“Go, now,” Thace ordered, finishing up his programming.

Keith spun around. “What? No! I’m not going to leave you.” That’s not what it mean to be a paladin of Voltron. He would not abandon one of their greatest allies in their time of need.

“You must. I will shut down the system,” Thace told him. His hands on his hips. “If you go now, you’ll have enough of a head start to survive the blast.”

Keith shook his head in disbelief.

“Paladin, this is where my journey ends. But as a member of Voltron, you have a greater mission. You’re destiny is far more important. You must understand that.” Thace stared at him with a multitude of emotions brimming his yellow eyes. His Galra eyes.

He didn’t know what to say; Keith had no words. He dropped his eyes to his feet. Another honest and kind Galra was going to die today. Out of so many corrupt and misguided, it was a damn shame that they kept losing the good ones.

“I was an honour to meet you,” Keith said, his voice low.

He looked Thace in the eyes and stepped forward to shake his hand, when an explosion blasted from the entrance, sending up a cloud of smoke and dust.

“Go!” Thace shouted, taking the gun from Keith’s hands.

Keith ran and jumped.

“Wait, Keith,” Thace called out.

Keith stopped his fall with his jetpack and spun to face the Galra.

“Did the Blade get my intel about the prisoner?”

What? Were they really doing this now?

“The child? Yeah, they did,” Keith replied. “Voltron saved her; she’s on the castle.”

Thace let out a ragged breath. He ran his hands through the fur on his head and nodded. “I’m glad. She’s my daughter.”

Holy quiznak. No way.

“Not my real daughter, adopted. But that’s not the point,” Thace continued.

Keith darted his eyes over to the entrance where the smoke was beginning to clear. They were about to have company. Any moment now.

Thace inhaled deeply. He looked as though on the verge of breaking down. “Take care of her, paladin. She is special, very special. So special that Haggar wants her. You cannot let that happen,” Thace warned. “Please, keep Mywa out of the witch’s hands. Keep her safe. I beg you.”

“I will. We all will. I promise.”

Thace nodded. “Now go, run,” he ordered, his voice cracking.

Keith did. He leapt straight into the void, and this time he didn’t look back.

Sentries flooded into the hub and down the platform. Thace pressed his palm against the centre screen and saw it light up positive. The power was beginning to surge in the core. It was done.

…

“Ooooooh no,” Slav moaned as the controls for the gravity generator began to flash red and a siren blared. “I hate it when I’m right!” He rushed over to a screen.

“Slav, what’s happening?” Shiro asked.

“The gravity generator has just lost power.”

“So the teladuv is now visible and unprotected in open space?” Pidge clarified.

Lance sighed. “Oh fantastic.”

Hunk shook his head. “This is not good. So not good. What do we do?”

“Everyone stay calm,” Shiro said. “We can do this. Just stick to the plan.”

Slav cradled his head in his hands. “Now there’s no reality where we all get out alive!”

Well how about that for optimism.

The castle and the teladuv sunk towards the battle, unveiled to the Galra. Everyone continued with their assignments and the war raged on, getting ever more heated as the pressure began to build amongst the team. They were on the clock; there was no time to waste now that the teladuv was completely exposed.

Everyone had one thought in mind: where the hell was Keith?

Shiro swooped down to slice open another large warship.

“Seriously, what do we do?” Pidge yelled over the comms. “We can’t keep this up.”

“If Keith doesn’t get Zarkon’s ship shut down, we’re done for,” Shiro replied.

“Well, when is he planning on doing that?” Lance added, only just dodging a near-fatal blow. “Sometime soon would be great!”

“Yeah, I agree with that,” Hunk said. “Keith? How you doing over there?”

Keith, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, was currently trying to out-run a very large, hot explosion. He sprinted down the tunnel at top speed. He wanted to reply, he really did. But now was definitely not the time for distractions. Besides, they’d get their answer soon enough.

“We cannot wait any longer!” Allura cried. “I’m powering the teladuv now.”

The teladuv began to glow, becoming brighter by the second. Zarkon’s ship was trapped right beneath. Right where they wanted it.

An explosion tore through Zarkon’s ship.

“What was that?” Pidge shouted, manoeuvring out of the way of the fireball.

“The system is down.” Kolivan’s voice filled the comms. “We’re uploading the virus now.”

They’d done it. Oh my God, Keith and Thace had actually done it!

Wait… Keith.

“Keith, my man, you still with us?” Lance asked.

Zarkon’s ship went dark and so did the fighters. The ones on Lance’s tail were instantly powered down.

Keith was floating in open space. He smiled as he witnessed the effects of the explosion. “Thace did it,” he gasped. Then a shadow obscured his vision. He spun to find that Red was hovering above him. She purred in greeting. “Hey girl,” Keith said as he clambered in.

“Keith. Keith?” Shiro’s voice flooded in over the comms. “The Red lion has left the castle, so Keith must have escaped Zarkon’s ship somehow.”

“Are you sure?” Hunk asked, hesitantly. “Are we definitely sure he’s not still inside?”

“Guys, I’m fine,” Keith cut in as he settled into the pilot’s chair. “I’m in Red and I’m good to go.”

“Keith!” Lance yelped. Then he paused. “Why’d you ignore me earlier huh? What, you only answer to Shiro now?”

Keith frowned. What had he done now?

“Paladins, prepare to wormhole out of here,” Coran said.

They all glanced up to see the blue power crackle from the teladuv to form the largest wormhole ever. This was it. The final battle was about to begin.

Coran engaged the castle’s thrusters, moving the teladuv downwards to consume Zarkon’s ship. “Here we go!” He cried as he flew the castle in after it. “Hurry paladins, follow us through before the wormhole closes.”

The lions darted forwards and into the beautiful, glittering, almost magical space curvature. They all sped towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel.

“Coran, how’s Allura?” Shiro asked.

Coran, who had just rushed to her side, was cradling the princess in his arms. She had promptly collapsed after opening the wormhole. “She’s weak, but okay,” he replied, staring down at her young, innocent face. “She’ll recover. Don’t you worry.”

A shriek from across the room drew his attention. Libby was awake.

“Oh quiznak,” Coran sighed. How inconvenient.

Shiro just nodded. He hadn’t heard the baby Galra’s cries. That was probably for the best. “Okay, you just take care of her. We’ve got it from here.” Then he was gone.

Coran lifted Allura into his arms and carried her over to Shiro’s chair, laying her down carefully. She would have to rest here for now. Coran then moved to pick up Libby, cuddling her to his chest and stroking her ears. “There there my dear. Everything will be fine.”

Libby simply wailed louder.

…

“We did it!” Pidge cheered. “I can’t believe we actually did it!”

“See, I told you we could do it,” Slav chirped.

Lance rolled his eyes.

“Guys, it’s not over yet,” Shiro cut in. “Form Voltron!”

Here we go. Giant lion-robot time. The paladins came together, locking their lions in place. Voltron was officially formed.

“We gotta act fast,” Shiro said, taking the lead. “The power in Zarkon’s ship will only be down for twenty minutes. The Blade of Marmora’s schematics showed four main targets we have to hit; the engines, the weapons system, the bridge, and the shield generators. Now, let’s put an end to Zarkon once and for all!”

“Yeah!” The team yelled, suitably motivated.

“Now form sword,” Shiro ordered.

It was surprisingly easy to take out their targets when the enemy had no way of fighting back.

…

“We’ve done it,” Allura gasped, sitting up from her slumped position.

Coran rushed to her side, rocking Libby in his arms. “Princess, I didn’t expect you to wake so soon!”

Libby reached out to touch her white hair.

Allura spared the toddler a soft glance and stroked her cheek. She then rose up, staring out at the battle before them. “This is the end of Zarkon’s reign.”

Coran let a smile slip onto his face. “Yes, Princess. A new era is about to be born.”

Libby giggled and clapped her hands together.

…

“Stay focused,” Shiro said. “The bridge is our final target.”

Voltron flew up, and up, between the prongs of the warship.

A dark ball of energy built up beneath them. It spit and flashed purple light.

“What is that?” Hunk squeaked.

Keith recognised it. It looked like the druid’s magic. “Shit. Guys this is bad. Seriously bad. We need to move, now!”

“What?” Lance shrieked.

Shiro shook his head. “There’s no time. We can make it.”

Then a strand of black light blasted towards them and everything hurt. Voltron was surrounded and consumed by the energy. The paladins screamed as an invisible hand tore into them, ripping them open. Their skin felt like it was on fire, but also frozen. It was an impossible paradox of feeling and emotion that tugged and tugged, and stretched each one of them out until they felt themselves break under the strength of it.

In the control room, Allura’s cry was drowned by a piercing shriek that sent both her and Coran sprawling to the floor. They rushed to cover their ears.

Sparks flew from the technology around them and the lights flickered dangerously.

The sound continued to ring out, reaching almost painful levels of loudness.

Allura looked to Coran desperately. What was happening?

Coran dropped his eyes to Libby. Her mouth hung open, shaped around a scream. Her yellow eyes were wide with shock and fear. Coran would have reached out for her but he couldn’t risk his hearing like that. All the while, Libby was completely focused on the scenes outside.

Voltron, consumed in dark magic, was being drained of quintessence which bled out in spirals of bright blue light.

Coran gasped as Libby sat up and held her hands out towards the paladins. Her shrill cry never ending. Markings began to appear on her face, shining into existence. Altean markings.

…

Haggar faltered in her attack as a sound pierced her mind. Her dropped to the floor, raising her hands to cradle her head. “No!” She screamed. “What is this?!”

Her druids turned to her, confused as the onslaught of magic came to a halt.

“Haggar, what is wrong?” One asked from their platform.

The witch didn’t answer; she was too preoccupied with the force within her head. She had never witnessed such power before. It was so akin to her own, yet far more raw. Haggar grunted, slamming her fist against the floor. The pain in her mind had ceased, but the assault had left her cold and sluggish. Haggar could not access her magic as easily as before.

She had been thwarted. But by whom?

Then the sphere of dark magic began to rage and a branch of lightning shot out in their direction. Haggar shrieked as she felt the heat of it singe her insides and begin to draw out her own quintessence.

But the backlash didn’t last long. It faded away nearly as quickly as it had started.

Haggar barked out a bitter laugh, spitting blood on the floor. Whoever’s magic this was, they were not in control of it.

She stared down at Voltron, floating aimlessly through open space. Ah well, she may not have finished them off, but she had inflicted sufficient damage. It would be enough for the emperor to end them.

…

The control room had been stunned into an eery silence as Libby’s preternatural cries came to a sudden end. Her eyes were now filled with quiet tears.

Allura was the first to rise, slowly pushing herself up onto her knees. She stared down at the toddler warily and eyed the new markings on her cheeks. They were a stark white and glowed against her purple fur. Now that Allura thought about it, Libby had never looked entirely Galra; her facial structure had always seemed slightly off.

This must mean that there are other Alteans out there. There were Alteans still alive.

Coran scooped Libby into his arms, unafraid of her despite what had just occurred. “There you are, little one. Dry those eyes now,” he soothed, wiping away the tears streaming down Libby’s cheeks.

He glanced at Allura.

“We don’t have time to discuss this now,” Allura said. They definitely would be later though. “How are the paladins?”

Coran clambered onto his feet. “By the Ancients,” he gasped as he caught sight of Voltron consumed in tendrils of purple light. “Paladins, can you hear me!”

Nothing.

Allura shook her head, refusing to believe that it was over.

Kolivan and Antok had inched closer. They blanched when they spotted the changes to the Galra child, coming to the same realisation as the Alteans.

“I thought that virus shut down all of Zarkon’s power?!” Coran turned to them.

“That blast what not from the ship’s weapons,” Allura said, struggling to her feet. Antok moved to assist her. “It was magic.” She snuck a glance at Libby and frowned.

“It must have been the Kolmar,” Kolivan told them. “Zarkon has been trying to develop a device to extract the quintessence from planets. It appears he has succeeded.”

By the Ancients. Coran tightened his hold on Libby, gazing out at Voltron. “If it destroys planets, what did it do to the paladins?!”

“Paladins! Shiro! Can you hear me?” Allura cried out over the comms.

The lions had separated now and were floating off in different directions. The paladins were no longer in control; they were no longer conscious.

Allura clenched her fists. “Quiznak! Quiznak, quiznak, quiznak, quiznak!” She clenched her jaw. What were they going to do now? They’d just lost everything.

“Allura?” It was Shiro. “Princess? We’re alive.” His voice was hoarse and weak, but it was there none-the-less.

Allura wanted to cry with relief.

Coran let his eyes fall closed as a smile broke out on his face. “Thank the Ancients.”

“Is Voltron still operational?” Allura asked. Because they still had a fight to win.

For a moment all they could hear were grunts and mechanical shifts.

“It’s not working,” Hunk said.

Keith groaned. “I can’t move my lion.”

“What on Earth just happened?!” Lance asked.

Coran sighed. “You’ve been hit by a sort of witchcraft that draws the quintessence out of you.” He paused, flicking his eyes onto Allura, then back forward. “You need to get out of there; another blast like that and you might not survive.”

“Oh no,” Lance gasped. “What is that?”

All eyes turned to Zarkon’s ship.

“Er guys, I’m beginning to panic now,” Hunk said. “I know I promised I wouldn’t panic, Lance, but I’m panicking. Like big time.” He kept pulling the lever in Yellow but nothing was happening.

“Hunk just breathe buddy, we can do this,” Lance soothed. But to be honest, he was also panicking. Just, internally.

The strange, new mechanic creature continued to emerge from Zarkon’s ship, spreading its wings out to reach their full span.

“Voltron’s still not working,” Shiro said.

“Paladins you need to move!” Allura ordered, moving to the control podium. “Remember your training. Remember all the battles you’ve fought together. All of that has been leading up to this moment. You can do this! This is your destiny!”

Coran shifted Libby in his arms. This would be a great time for the little girl to take a nap.

The creature’s eyes flashed purple.

Shiro let out a ragged breath. “It’s Zarkon.”

“I must buy them more time,” Allura said, turning to Coran. “Bring us in closer and divert all power to our weapon’s system.”

“What?” Coran’s eyes flew wide. He hoisted Libby further up his hip. “Princess, we’ll be defenceless!”

Allura swallowed. “It’s the only way.”

Coran hesitated, but complied. They couldn’t risk failing now. He just wished that the little one didn’t have to witness all this.

…

All that could be heard over the comms was the intense breathing of their fellow paladins as they continued to struggle in bringing their lions back to life.

Lance was pretty sure his heart had never worked so hard.

“Listen to me,” Allura said, her voice ringing in their ears. “You are true paladins now. Connect with your lions, reach out to each other. Fight! This cannot end now.”

Then the castle got hit, by the reflection of its own laser. It went up in a ball of smoke and flames.

“Allura!” Shiro shouted out.

He received no reply.

Fucking quiznaking shit. “Oh God,” Lance gasped. Libby and Coran were in there too.

A small whimper slipped from Pidge’s mouth while the rest of them suffered in silence. Their eyes turned glassy as their worlds flipped inside-out. The castle was gone; they were alone.

“Everybody, listen,” Shiro said. It seemed like every time he spoke, he grew wearier. “We have to fight. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron. Close your eyes, open your minds. Let’s do this.”

So they brought their minds together, interlacing their thoughts and emotions. The paladins forgot all their petty arguments, competitions, and misunderstandings. They came together as one, as Voltron. And it was the most powerful bond they had ever felt.

They were ready.

“Then let’s get Voltron back in this battle!” Shiro yelled as they formed their sword.

Whoops filled the air. They could do this.

Zarkon flew towards them and the two beings collided with a spectacular ring of sparks. And then the fight was on. Zarkon had his own blade and he launched himself into the offensive. But Voltron matched his strikes with their own defensive manoeuvres.

Voltron got thrown back as Zarkon threw himself forward, crashing into the giant lion-robot with an immense force. Then Voltron zoomed off, leading Zarkon away from his ship and on a chase. Zarkon looped and swerved as he followed closely behind.

Now it was a battle of lasers, with Zarkon firing his own beams as Voltron returned the attacks, managing to graze the Galra a few times.

Shiro pulled them to a stop. “Time to bring out the big guns. Hunk, form shoulder canon.”

“You bet,” Hunk replied, locking his bayard into place.

“Fire!”

Zarkon’s wings slipped in front of him to form a tight shield, preventing the blast from damaging him.

“Well that’s just great,” Lance said. “Fantastic.”

“Look out!” Shiro cried as another shot of magic came their way. He managed to pull Voltron to safety just in time.

Only to be slammed into by Zarkon.

“Ouch,” Pidge said. “I’m going to be covered in bruises when this is over.”

…

Coran’s eyes flickered open. He was surrounded by darkness and floating in mid-air. Oh no. He darted over to where Libby was lying, awake but deathly quiet. Her face was frozen with fear. Coran quickly scooped her into his arms. “I’ve got you, little one. Don’t you worry.” He swivelled around. “Princess! Allura, are you alright?!” Coran pushed off the nearest surface and glided over to her.

Allura sighed, blinking. “I’m fine. How badly is the castle damaged?”

Coran swam over to the controls. “Our power levels are decimated. Communications aren’t working; we can’t reach the paladins. Allura, we can’t fight any more. The castle can no longer engage.” He glanced down at Libby who was chewing on her fist.

“We cannot give up,” Allura said, having manoeuvred over to the podium.

The control room doors creaked open. Slav was between them, grunting as he pushed the doors open with his body. “Did we win yet?”

Something clicked in Allura’s mind. “Coran, you and Slav work to get the castle functioning again. Kolivan, Antok, can you get me to the Kolmar?”

The Galra frowned. “It will be dangerous, but I know a way.”

Allura nodded and pushed herself towards the door. “You two come with me. We’ll have to face this witch directly if we hope to stop her.” Once at the doors she turned back. “Coran, the bridge is yours.”

“Allura, you can’t do this! You’ve been weakened by the teladuv,” Coran objected. “You can’t fight Haggar like this. Not now.”

Allura dropped her eyes to Libby, who was back to squirming in the older Altean’s arms with her eyes glued to the Princess. “We don’t have a choice.”

Coran nodded solemnly as the doors closed behind her.

Libby whimpered.

…

Voltron couldn’t take Zarkon down with just its weapons, that much was clear. They had been dancing around each other for ages now, firing lasers and striking with their swords. Nothing was having an effect. Neither side was budging. It seemed as though Voltron had met its match.

“We’ve never faced anything this powerful before,” Pidge said.

Keith hummed in agreement. “Shiro, we’re gonna need to change up our tactics.”

“Ok,” Shiro nodded. “If anyone thinks of something, let me know.”

The problem is, no one could. They had exhausted all their weapon options and it wasn’t as though they had the time to devise a complicated plan, besides there wasn’t exactly much to work with here in open space.

After another heart-stopping collision with Zarkon, Shiro let out a deep grunt.

“Shiro, you okay?” Lance asked.

“It’s… Zarkon,” Shiro bit out. “He’s trying… to get control of my lion. I can feel him in my mind.”

Oh no.

“Fight it, Shiro!” Keith said.

Zarkon forced Voltron away once again.

Everyone screamed as they moved in for the kill, sword outstretched and ready to slice through that motherfucker. And when the weapon was imbedded in Zarkon, they couldn’t believe it. But it was only his arm, and Zarkon threw them back, seemingly unaffected by the blow.

He had Voltron caught in a lasso of some sort, one that lit up with dark power and zapped the team to kingdom come.

Five pained shrieks rang out. They were blinded by a sudden bright light that filled their cockpits. The power surrounding them was so immense it was paralysing.

Then they were being flung and the lions separated from the sheer force of it. They weren’t a unit anymore. They perked their lions back up, now a distance away from Zarkon.

Keith swung around to check they still had everybody. “Shiro,” he called out when he noticed the black lion was unresponsive. “Shiro!?”

“Aw man,” Hunk said.

“Guys, something’s wrong with Shiro,” Keith continued.

Everyone sat up.

“What do we do?” Lance asked.

“We can’t let Zarkon get the black lion,” Keith said. “So let’s form a barrier around him.”

“Sure thing, samurai.” Lance pulled Blue around to partially block the black lion.

Keith sent him an odd look then did the same.

It wasn’t much protection, but it was all they could do.

Zarkon’s wings flared out and lit up menacingly as he stormed towards them.

“Ok, I want Hunk here to guard Black, while the rest of us focus on Zarkon,” Keith said. “We need to split up and take different angles. He can’t defend against us all.”

Hunk gulped. “What if Shiro doesn’t wake up?”

“He will,” Lance cut in. “It’s Shiro.”

Keith shared a look with Lance through their windshields. He smiled briefly. “Let’s do this. On my mark, team.”

…

Allura brought her staff down and watched as the druid dropped from the platform. She heaved a breath. Coran was right; she was weakened. She lacked her usual strength and speed, but Allura was not going to let that hold her back. She was still a force to be reckoned with.

A blast drew her gaze away. Antok was still battling the final druid. He was getting a few solid hits in and it looked as though he would win.

Then Haggar shot him down with her magic and he fell to his knees.

“Antok!” Kolivan cried out.

A chill ran down Allura’s spine. She stood up straighter as she observed their remaining opponents.

…

Shiro came to gradually.

“Guys, we’ve got to draw his fire away from the black lion.”

“Keith watch out!”

“I’m running out of strength here… I can’t keep this up.”

“Take that you motherfucking quiznak piece of-”

“Pidge!”

“Lance, not now.”

“No I mean, on your six!”

“Oh shit.”

He sat up and stared out at his team mates fighting off Zarkon by themselves. They were holding their own, but it looked as though their luck was beginning to run out.

Lance cried out.

“Lance, no,” Keith shouted, before grunting as he took another hit.

More yells came through not long after.

Shiro had to do something; he had to help them. The keyhole for his bayard rose up for him. What? This was a sign, Shiro thought. But what of what? He had no bayard.

“Hunk!” Pidge screamed as the Yellow lion was chucked to one side.

The four of them were still throwing themselves into combat, still persisting.

Shiro swooped in, heading straight for Zarkon. He felt Black in his mind and he closed his eyes briefly to strengthen his connection with her. He visualised them coming together as one. They were one.

Wings sprouted from Black’s back as she collided with Zarkon. Shiro felt his mind meet that of the Galra Emperor’s and for a moment they were transported elsewhere. Then he was back in Black’s cockpit with a bayard in his hand. A black bayard.  
  
“Woah what was that?” Lance asked.

Everyone else was hovering, watching with bated breath.

“I have Zarkon’s bayard,” Shiro gasped.

Keith rolled his eyes. “You mean your bayard.”

“Oh my god Shiro that’s great!” Pidge grinned.

“We’ve only got a few minutes before power returns to Zarkon’s ship,” Shiro said. “We need to form Voltron and finish this!”

So they came together for one last time.

…

Kolivan slammed his blade against the druid’s magical shield, sending sparks of energy flying.

Allura, on the other hand, was battling Haggar on a nearby platform. She leapt, rolling across the floor to dodge a blast, then took a swing at the witch with her staff. But Haggar was quick. She disappeared, then reappeared, then disappeared again. The witch darted across the platform, teasing Allura as she attacked from all angles.

Then Allura charged. She landed a hit that sent Haggar flying and crashing against the floor.

The witch’s hood fell, revealing long white hair and a scarred purple face. Her yellow eyes glowed mercilessly as she turned back towards the princess.

Allura gasped. “You- you’re Altean?!” It could’t be! Why would one of her own people turn against them? Images of Libby flashed before her. Was it possible that they were… related? No. Allura shook her head. Don’t distract yourself.

Haggar got to her feet and shrieked as she fired another bout of magic.

Allura had no time to react before it hit her. Black light surrounded her and entered her. She raised her arms to shield herself. She had expected pain, but there was nothing. Haggar’s magic didn’t hurt her, it made her more powerful.

“What?” Haggar staggered backwards as Allura began to glow.

The Princess was absorbing the energy and using it to fight back. Allura took purposeful steps towards the witch, pushing back against the magical force. In the end, she had forced the power back so far that Haggar herself could no longer maintain her attack.

The witch groaned as she collapsed, her energy dissipating.

Allura glared down at her, assessing her tired form. “You will never destroy another innocent world!” She took a deep breath, then slammed a palm against the platform, releasing all the quintessence she had just absorbed.

Pink light shot out around her as it tore apart the weapon of Haggar’s creation, destroying it.

Kolivan used the distraction to stab the final druid.

Haggar gaped at the mass of power pouring from the Altean princess. She hadn’t been aware of her abilities before this. But this wasn’t the one who had attacked her earlier; Princess Allura was in control of her magic.

The sphere around Allura began to waver. Her attack was coming to an end.

Haggar had seen enough. Now she knew, she would no longer be unprepared. She faded out of sight.

Zarkon’s ship was crumbling above them.

“Princess,” Kolivan shouted. “We must go.”

Allura sucked in a breath as she reeled the quintessence back in. She clambered to her feet and reached for her staff. The witch may have escaped, but her weapon had not.

They were done here.

…

“Does the child speak?” Slav asked Coran, glancing at Libby in his arms.

They were still floating, but now they now leaned downwards over the controls as they tried desperately to get the caste operating again.

Coran raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’m aware… Why?”

“Hmm.” Slav’s many arms were all over the place. “Oh, no reason. She just seems very young to be exhibiting magical behaviour, is all.”

“How did you-”

“Its not that difficult to work out where that scream came from, you know,” Slav cut in. “Only an Altean with magical abilities can achieve such a sound. It’s triggered by the use of their powers under intense stress or fear.”

Coran stared at him.

“What? I’m not just a physicist you know. I have other hobbies; I read.”

Suddenly the castle lights flickered on and they both dropped to their feet. Oh thank the Ancients. Solid ground. The control screen opened up before them.

“We’re back!” Coran yelped. Finally. He jiggled Libby up and down in excitement. “We did it little one!”

Slav dusted himself off. “You better not be referring to me.”

“Hello paladins,” Coran called out. “We’re back!”

Whoops and cheers could be heard all around.

“Thank God.” Came Shiro’s reply. “How is everyone?”

Slav perked up. “Oh, I’m fine. Don’t worry guys!”

There was a pause.

“Oh great. Slav made it,” Lance said.

Shiro bit back his groan.

“Are you okay, Coran? How’s Libby?” Lance continued.

Coran smiled gently. “We’re both well, Lance. Don’t you worry about us.”

Libby must have heard Lance’s voice because she suddenly started squealing, turning around in a desperate search for the blue paladin.

Something caught Coran’s eye. Through the glass he could see lights beginning to come back on in the Galra ship. Quiznak. “The power’s returning to Zarkon’s ship. We need to get out of here!” He cried. “I’ll find Allura, you lot focus on taking out the emperor.”

“Okay everyone, this is our last chance,” Shiro said. “Let’s finish this!”

“Yeah!” They yelled in response, throwing their controls forward and launching Voltron back towards the enemy.

The speed at which they reached each other was immense and the crash created such a blast that the castle was knocked back a metre or so.

Voltron’s blade had penetrated the middle of Zarkon’s suit. This time, it was a fatal blow. Electricity crackled from the sword imbedded in the metal.

But Zarkon still had a card up his sleeve. He flung his arms forward to grasp Voltron’s head, sending powerful blasts into Shiro’s cockpit and stunning the black paladin with violent purple energy.

Everyone heard Shiro’s screams.

He was frozen again. Like before, Shiro found he could hardly move. He began to panic. No, he thought. I will not be the one who fails us, who fails Voltron. His eyes caught on the keyhole and he slammed his bayard down, locking it into place.

Power surged through the black lion and the sword in Zarkon’s stomach lengthened and burned gold.

Keith, catching on, surged forward to drag the sword upwards and deeper in the Galra. Zarkon would not escape this time. They had him trapped.

The paladins cried out as one, gathering their strength to pull the blade up and through the rest of Zarkon’s suit, slicing it in half. Then Voltron flew back and watched as Zarkon exploded into a ball of blinding purple light.

Whiteness hit them.

They were thrown out of balance and suddenly the lions had separated, floating alone in the aftermath.

Lance let out a moan, then hauled himself up. “Did we do it? Is Zarkon dead?” He saw the other lions in front of him and hoped the others had all made it.

Hunk rolled his shoulders. “Yeah, is it over yet? Everything hurts and I’m so hungry guys it’s unreal.”

“I have Allura and Kolivan,” Coran interrupted. “We need to go! Paladins, get back to the castle now!”

The lions sped towards the castle. They really didn’t want to go another round with the Galra. They were so done.

Keith caught sight of the black lion, which remained unmoving behind them. “Shiro!”

“We need to tow him back onto the ship,” Pidge said.

Red and Green swerved to fetch him before making their way to the castle to join the others. As soon as they were all aboard, Allura generated a wormhole and they were gone. Just in time too.

…

The team tore down the corridor to the black lion’s hangar. Keith was in front, with Pidge and Lance not far behind.

“Shiro!” Keith ran and burst into Black’s cockpit. He’d been expecting to find Shiro unconscious, knocked out from the blast or from Zarkon’s mind tricks. He’d expected Shiro to be slumped forward, or over the side of his chair like Lance had been when he was hurt. He hadn’t been expecting blood, but he was open to the possibility. Keith knew that really, he should be prepared for anything and everything.

“Shiro?”

Keith hadn’t been expecting Shiro to be gone.

The others rushed in after him, crowding the empty cockpit. The black bayard was still there. All that was missing was Shiro himself.

“He’s gone,” Lance said.

Pidge sniffed. “How…How could this have happened?”

“I honestly have no idea,” Allura answered.

Keith didn’t know what to say, what to do. Shiro was his rock. They were like brothers. What was he going to do without him? How was Keith supposed to survive without Takashi Shirogane?

He felt a hand slip onto his shoulder. Lance was staring at him and Keith felt like he was staring into his soul.

“By the Ancients,” Coran whispered as Libby whimpered in his arms.

By the Ancients, indeed.

…

The entrance to Zarkon’s chambers slid open to reveal Haggar, cloaked in her usual garb but radiating far more power and anger than any of the Galra generals had witnessed before.

She stalked towards them, her unnaturally yellow eyes piercing every single one of the soldiers she had called before her. “Summon Prince Lotor,” she ordered.

Oh no. This could not be good.

Haggar then stuck a finger out and summoned the nearest general over to her.

He glanced at the others before complying.

“Yugal, I want to speak to you about a certain prisoner of yours,” she snarled. “The child, is she still on your ship?”

Yugal, a tall and lithe Galra, bowed his head. “She is, as far as I’m aware.”

Haggar narrowed her eyes and assessed him. “As far as you’re aware? Hmm. I want her brought to me immediately and if I find that she has somehow slipped through your fingers…” She brought a hand to his head. “You will not enjoy the consequences.”

The general gulped and nodded.

“Good,” Haggar said. She turned to face the rest of the Galra leaders. “Now go, continue with your duties in serving the empire.”

She sighed as she watched the group leave hastily. With Zarkon fatally wounded, she would have to rely on Lotor to lead the empire in the meantime. She just hoped the generals would fall in line and accept his authority; she was well aware that there was opposition towards him. Her son would just have to earn their respect.

Haggar was not ready for her quest to come to an end. Her quest for infinite knowledge.

…

Someone was knocking bloody loudly on his door when Keith finally tore himself out his thoughts.

“What?” He bit out, slamming his hand against the panel to open the goddamn thing. “Pidge I swear to God- Lance.” Keith stood up. His eyes were glued instantly to Lance’s blue ones. “Er, what are you doing here?”

Lance had his hands clasped in front of him. He shrugged. “We’re having a sleepover in the rec room, if you’re interested. It was Hunk’s idea; he loves sleepovers. We used to have them all the time at the Garrison, even though lights-out was technically at midnight… Yeah.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes.

Keith scanned his face. The dark cloud of angst over Shiro that had hung over him since they’d discovered he was missing, it was beginning to dissipate. “Sure,” he said.

Because of his staring, Keith easily caught the change in Lance’s eyes when he accepted. There was a flash of brightness that sent waves crashing through the blue of his irises.

Lance grinned. “Great! Coran dug out some old Altean movies, so Allura and Pidge are in charge of picking one we’ll all like…”

Keith smirked. “Let me guess, Hunk’s on snack duty?”

“Hell yeah he is. Who else would be on snack duty?!” Lance faked outrage, then pulled Keith towards him with an arm over his shoulder. “You, my man, are building the blanket fort.”

“I am?” Keith’s chest exploded with warmth. “What are you doing?”

Lance laughed. “I’m taking photos while you struggle, is what.”

Keith punched him in the stomach, relishing in the tiny squeak that slipped from Lance’s mouth.

“Nah, just kidding,” Lance said. “I’m on Libby duty. She’s dying to see you, by the way; she’s already had her fill of everyone else. I’m serious. She’s gonna want to run her hands all over your face and ears and hair, then crawl onto your lap and nuzzle you into oblivion.”

Keith raised an eyebrow.

Lance caught the look. “What? That’s what she did to me! And the rest of the gang, although not the nuzzling thing. But definitely the touchy-feely stuff. I think it’s just her way of making sure we’re alright. Although, Libby likes you so you’ll probably get the full cuddle package too.”

“If you’re sure.”

Lance nudged him. “I’m sure.”

They lapsed into silence until the rec room door came into view.

Keith hesitated.

“We’ll find Shiro, Keith,” Lance told him. His arm was still wrapped around Keith. “We will. We just need to take our minds off everything for a while, so we don’t drive ourselves mad.”

Keith pursed his lips, purposely avoiding Lance’s gaze.

“Keith,” Lance shifted his hold, grasping Keith’s biceps to stare him in the eyes. “Look at me. Do you trust me? Do you trust us?”

“Of course.” Keith would happily drown in those eyes.

Lance sent him a soft smile. “Then trust that we’ll find him. We’re Voltron, we can do anything! Come on.” He scooped Keith back into a side hug, closing the distance between them and the rec room.

This time Keith returned the hold, slipping his own arm around Lance’s waist.

They’d defeated Zarkon. Maybe they could do this too. Together.

“Finally, get in here you slow-coaches,” Pidge said as she spotted the pair by the door. “We’ve chosen the movie.”

Allura nodded excitedly. “Yes, it’s what you would call a rom-com. I haven’t actually seen this one myself, but Coran assures us it’s very good.”

“Oh yes,” Coran said. “I do love a good romance; reminds me of my youth.”

Keith was taken aback by how the room had been transformed. Coloured lanterns were hanging from the ceiling, setting the atmosphere with their soft glow. The floor in front of the Altean television was littered with fluffy blankets, which was where Pidge and Allura were lying with their backs against the sofa. Another pile of blankets sat beside the door, obviously for building the fort. Hunk and Coran had claimed the two armchairs, leaving the sofa for Lance and Keith. And Libby.

The tiny Galra nearly fell off and onto Pidge as she tried to stand up.

“Easy there, Libby,” Lance leapt over to grab the girl round the waist and pull her into his arms. “You’re turning into a little rascal you are.” Lance blew a raspberry against her tummy and she squealed in delight.

“Yo Keith, did Lance tell you you’re on fort duty?” Pidge called out.

“Er, yeah. He did,” Keith said, tearing his eyes from Lance and Libby messing around. He was suddenly hit with memories of Thace and what he’d told him on Zarkon’s ship.

She is special… Please, keep Mywa out of the witch’s hands.

Keith shivered, turning to pick up the blankets. They had never considered Libby’s past life, where she was from. And what did Thace mean by special, exactly? Well, if Haggar wanted her then she must be dangerous. But how? He’d have to tell the others…

“Keith, my man, you need help with that?” Lance asked, smirking from his spot on the sofa with Libby sat contently on his lap.

Keith rolled his eyes. “How about a blanket pile?” He teased, chucking the lot of them on Lance’s head.

The room dissolved into laughter as Lance struggled to escape the mass of soft blankets. When he finally did, his hair was sticking out in all directions. He poked his tongue out at Keith, who took a seat beside him.

Libby giggled and reach her hands out for Keith.

He couldn’t see how such an adorable child could pose a threat to anyone. Keith lifted her out of Lance’s arms and lay back as she proceeded with her touchy-feely ritual.

They gave up on the blanket fort.

The screen lit up as the movie started to play.

“Wait, how are we going to understand any of this?” Hunk asked.

Pidge patted his leg. “Fear not, Lance’s got you covered.”

Lance nudged her in the back with his foot. “Who says I’m translating for them, gremlin?”

She shrugged. “Your vocab is better than mine.”

He could feel Keith’s eyes burning into the side of his face and Lance blushed.

“You should be proud, Lance,” Coran told him in Altean. “You have a true talent for languages.” He winked at the boy.

Lance’s blush just deepened. “Thanks. Fine, I’ll do it. But I expect one of those snack bowls to stay here with me the whole time.”

A bowl filled with various squidgy shapes was passed over.

“Hunk made marshmallows,” Lance told Keith, leaning right over to whisper in his ear as the characters finally appeared on the screen. “Well, kind of. They’re sweet though so that’s all that matters.”

Now Keith was the one blushing.

Lance slumped back against the sofa, his eyes on the movie now.

In the end, everyone forgot about the translation. It was too fast and too complicated for Lance to keep up with anyways. They were all so drawn in by the bright colours and intense drama that the words almost didn’t matter. Lance caught some of it though and would giggle along with Coran and Allura at times.

Libby had fallen asleep, lying with her head nuzzled in Lance’s lap and her feet sprawled across Keith’s. The pair closed the gap between them on the sofa to keep her comfortable. Or at least that’s what they told themselves as they inched closer.

About half-way through, Lance caught Hunk staring at them with an eyebrow raised. He raised an eyebrow and sent his friend a ‘what the hell’ look. Hunk glanced at Keith, then back. Lance’s blush returned and he thanked the Ancients that the lights were dimmer now. He stuck his tongue out at Hunk for being a nosy motherfucker and got the ‘we’re talking about this later’ look in return, which Lance blatantly pretended he didn’t see.

“You know, in Altean culture courting rituals were of utmost importance,” Coran cut in as the protagonist handed her lover a beautiful, rare stone.

Pidge shushed him instantly. She was, as it turns out, a complete sucker for love stories. Go figure.

“Tell me later, Coran,” Lance replied. As much as he loved learning about Altean culture, it was ruining his chilled-out sleepover vibe right now.

As they all settled down again, Keith’s eyes remained stuck on Lance. Hearing him casually talking in Altean made his blood run hot in ways Keith didn’t want to delve into. Then it hit him, the comic book he’d found in here before must belong to Lance. Quiznak.

After the film had ended, and nearly the whole room was reduced to tears with Allura as the only exception, another equally soppy one was chosen.

No one mentioned Shiro, even though they didn’t quite succeed in putting him out of their minds.

 


End file.
